Our Services
Sleep Lab
Grant Regional Health Center is proud to offer comprehensive sleep studies in a beautiful, newly expanded area. We are committed to providing the highest quality care for the evaluation and treatment of people with sleep disorders. Sleep disorders adversely affect quality of life, cardiovascular health, mental health, daytime energy and alertness. They also increase the risk of depression, heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, and motor vehicle or work-related accidents.
As a patient, you can be assured of comfort, safety, and optimal care and diagnosis for your condition. You will receive an individualized treatment program.
If you are a referring physician, your patients will be promptly admitted for an overnight sleep study (with or without a daytime test), and you will receive rapid, accurate, informative and reliable diagnostic reports, plus recommendations to facilitate the immediate care your patient deserves.
What is a sleep laboratory?
A sleep laboratory is set up to investigate and treat sleep disorders and disorders of wakefulness. Sleep laboratories require a referral from a physician.
Laboratory tests may be preceded by a clinical evaluation, including a medical history, a physical examination, a review of your medications and a careful analysis of sleep-related questionnaires.
What do I do as a patient coming for a sleep study?
During your sleep study, we will monitor your brain wave activity, breathing patterns, leg and muscle activity, heart activity on the ECG heart monitor, and blood oxygen levels. All monitoring is done on the surface of the skin and there is no discomfort.
Overnight Sleep Study
The overnight polysomnogram is used to help pinpoint the cause of excessive daytime sleepiness and to diagnose some sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome. In most cases, you will be asked to come to the lab at 8 p.m. It will take the technologist about an hour to prepare you for the procedure by attaching electrodes with a paste. The electrodes do not pierce the skin. In the morning, you will be able to leave in time for your usual daily activities.
You can read or watch television until the technologist says its time for bed. At that time, the technologist will connect you to recording equipment. There is a control area, separate from each bedroom, where the technologist carefully monitors your sleep.
The technologist will do all he or she can to make your stay a pleasant one. Do not be afraid to ask questions. You will have a private room with a bathroom. If you have to go to the washroom during the night, just ring for the technologist, who will disconnect your from the recording equipment. Cameras may be used to observe your sleep.
What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)?
OSA affects 20 million adult men and women in the United States. People who have OSA stop breathing repeatedly during sleep because the airway collapses.
Airway collapse may be caused by a large tongue, extra tissue in the airway or decreased tone in the muscle holding the airway open. As a result of the collapse, air is prevented from getting to the lungs. These pauses in breathing can happen 30 times or more per hour. When healthy sleep is interrupted in this way, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and other serious health conditions may increase.
How do I know if I have OSA?
OSA can occur in men, women and children of all ages and sizes. Most people with OSA do not realize they have it. Often, someone else witnesses the first signs of OSA. If you or someone you know snores regularly and has one or more of the following symptoms, it may be OSA. Consider all of the following that apply, and share this list with your doctor.
Key signs and symptoms include:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness.
- Loud or disruptive snoring.
- Gasping or choking during sleep.
Other common symptoms include:
- Grogginess and morning headaches.
- Frequent urination during the night.
- Depression and irritability.
- Obesity.
- Having a large neck or crowding of the upper airway.
- Being a post-menopausal woman.
Contact Us
Sleep Lab
Holli Hoffman, CRT, RPSGT
Sleep Technologist
608.723.2143, ext. 321
