Do you or a loved one have sleep apnea?

Sleep Apnea is the failure to breathe while you sleep. Obstructive Sleep Apnea is the most common type of Apnea. In this form of the disease, the airway collapses, cutting off air flow to the lungs. Snoring is often associated with poor sleep; sometimes overlooked by the patient, although not by their bed partner! A partial airway obstruction causes the upper airway tissues to vibrate and produce the sound of the classic snore. Luckily, there are multiple ways to treat sleep apnea. Consult your healthcare provider for the best options for you.

As Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) develops, it has a cumulative effect. This means that the longer the disease goes untreated, the greater the negative side effects and associated health risks.  If sleep apnea remains untreated, other health conditions may emerge or current health problems may heighten, including:

• High Blood Pressure
• Heart Disease
• Heart Attack
• Heart Failure
• Stroke
• Diabetes
• Depression
• Reflux disease (GERD)
• Atherosclerosis
• Gestational Diabetes
• Sexual Dysfunction

• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Difficulty concentrating on tasks such as driving and remaining focused at meetings. (Fatal car accidents are increased seven fold)
• Morning and daytime headaches
• Generalized irritability
• Impaired emotional functioning
• Sleep disordered breathing in childhood may be instrumental in delaying or damaging cognitive development.

Talk to Your Healthcare Provider

Complete the attached Sleep Screening Questionnaire and give it to your healthcare provider to start the discussion. If appropriate, your healthcare provider will prescribe a sleep test for you.

Testing in a Sleep Lab

This will require you to go to a sleep center and spend the night in their facility. In order to evaluate you for a number of sleep diseases, electrodes will be attached to your head and body to perform a full sleep study. In some labs, you may try on a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) mask and see what therapy is like should you need it.

Home Sleep Testing

You may be prescribed a home sleep test. This offers an easier option, as you will be able to spend the night in your own bed in familiar surroundings. After a brief training by your healthcare provider, you can take home a home sleep testing device for a self-administered sleep test. This could save you and/or your insurance company money, as the typical cost of a home sleep test is only a fraction of the cost of an in-lab sleep test.

CPAP is the most common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. CPAP is non-invasive (it does not enter the body). The CPAP machine is small and pulls in room air, compresses it and blows it into a tube which is attached to a mask worn by the patient. The pressurized air from the CPAP keeps the airway open, allowing the patient to breathe.

Other Treatment Options

While CPAP is the common treatment option, other modalities of treatment do exist, including:

• Lifestyle changes
• Positional therapy
• Weight loss
• Oral sleep apnea appliances
• Surgical procedures

Benefits of Treatment

Patients who treat obstructive sleep apnea will return to a more normal sleep pattern allowing the body its much needed rest. Patients will feel more awake and energetic allowing increased focus and activity throughout the day. Benefits also include reduced risk for heart failure, stroke, diabetes, hypertension and other ailments associated with OSA.

An estimated 40 million people in the U.S. alone are affected by a sleep disorder, many of whom are undiagnosed. About 30 million Americans have undiagnosed Sleep Apnea. CleveMed offers a wide selection of PSG (polysomnography or the sleep test) devices and portable sleep monitors to make sleep apnea diagnosis more readily accessible to patients. Our compact, wireless, portable devices are used in sleep labs, hospitals, home sleep tests, etc. as prescribed by the physician.

If you or your spouse is snoring at night, and you suspect that you may have sleep apnea, this page is dedicated to giving you resources for sleep apnea education, and screening. Ask your healthcare provider to evaluate your sleep health today!

CleveMed’s sleep monitoring devices can aid in sleep apnea diagnosis only when prescribed by a doctor, and cannot be sold directly to patients as per FDA regulations.

• EASY Sleep Screener >>
• American Academy of Sleep Medicine – AASM
• American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine – AADSM
• National Sleep Foundation

Online Sleep Communities:

• cpaptalk.com – CPAP and Sleep Apnea Community