Traditionally, the way to diagnose Sleep Apnea in a patient, or rather to confirm a diagnosis, has been for that patient to spend a night in a sleep lab. There, a complicated series of monitors and sensors would determine that OSA was indeed the issue- air pressure readings, heart-rate monitors and so on would be employed to confirm that the intermittent obstructions and interruptions to breathing were actually occurring during sleep.
This was a time-consuming and, for some, inconvenient process. Recently, however, great strides have been made in home diagnosis. A recent study carried out by the Philadelphia VA Medical Center’s pulmonary, critical care and sleep section has determined that the new generation of portable sleep monitors can be relied upon just as much as the old-school lab approach.
The study showed that once a three-month period of Continuous positive airway pressure treatment had been carried out, there was no discernible difference in the long-term prognosis of people diagnosed by either method.
This is good news for a number of reasons. Firstly, it means that it will now be easier to diagnose for sleep apnea- all someone has to do is have the sleep monitor set up in their home. In terms of sheer man-hours, it means that those professionals treating sleep disorders will be able to do so on a more flexible and time-efficient manner. The quicker that a diagnosis can be achieved, the more time can then be spent on treating the condition. There is also a consequent reduction in the amount of inconvenience to the lives of the patient.
This is a good thing for a number of reasons, not least of which is the face that it is now seen as less of a hassle by both physicians and patients. If you think you or your partner might suffer from this condition, there is now less and less of an excuse to get it checked out.
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