If you are like most people, when your doctor says "You need a sleep study." your first thought is...What's that? Why do I need sleep study? How does that even work?

Topics: sleep study

Use of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, also called CPAP therapy, is needed because it has been determined that your airway tends to be blocked while you sleep.  This can be caused by several factors and has been diagnosed as a result of a previous sleep study.  Once it has been determined that you will need CPAP therapy, the physician will order what is called a Titration study. 

Topics: CPAP

So you have just spent the night at a sleep lab and are wondering "what did you find out, and what’s next?"  It's a statement we at Alaska Sleep Clinic encounter on a daily basis, usually when a patient wakes up. The answer of course, depends on how your test went.

Topics: sleep assessment

Topics: CPAP Masks

I hear horror stories all too frequently from patients that have given up on their CPAP because their mask wasn't properly fitted by their CPAP equipment provider. 

Topics: CPAP Masks

We are using APAP more and more for our patients at Alaska Sleep Clinic and although APAP is not always the perfect remedy, it does work when applied appropriately. 

Topics: children, CPAP

An estimated 18 million Americans suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), with many of those cases undiagnosed. OSA can come with serious side effects and consequences including fatigue, obesity, and an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes.

Topics: CPAP Masks, sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea, sleep disorders, apnea, CPAP, oral appliance

Does your teenage son stay up late every night, night after night? Blame it on wild animals.

One theory on why teenagers are wired to stay awake later is that in another time, they were charged with protecting the village or camp at night from any dangerous creatures that might invade. A teen on guard might be more alert for that bear than his adult counterparts would be.

Topics: teens

Hypersomnia is a sleep disorder in which someone is getting and/or needing more sleep than necessary.

Symptoms include patients sleeping more than 10 hours a night, difficulty in rousing the sleeper even after a full night of sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), and narcolepsy.

Approximately 5 percent of Americans suffer from hypersomnia.

Fortunately, hypersomnia is a treatable condition.

With the help of a sleep physician, a hypersomnia sufferer’s sleep needs can be restored to a preferable and non-excessive level, and the disruptive and possibly embarrassing daytime fatigue can be alleviated.

Topics: sleep disorders, sleep study, CPAP

Approximately 4 percent of American adults suffer from periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD). The sleep disorder is characterized by the patient’s limbs (usually, one or both legs) involuntarily and rhythmically moving several times during the night. These movements differ from the normal spasms people experience as they begin to fall asleep. Side effects of PLMD include fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), as well as the interrupted slumber of the sleep partner who becomes an unintentional target of “kicky” legs, so treating this sleep disorder can improve one’s quality of life and relationship harmony.

Topics: sleep disorders, sleep study, plmd, sleep specialist