How Is Sleep Apnea Diagnosed?
Doctors diagnose sleep apnea based on your medical
and family histories, a physical exam, and results from
sleep
studies. Usually, your primary care doctor evaluates your symptoms first.
He or she then decides whether you need to see a sleep specialist.
These specialists are doctors who diagnose and treat
people with sleep problems. Such doctors include lung, nerve, or ear, nose, and
throat specialists. Other types of doctors also can be sleep specialists.
Medical and Family Histories
Your doctor will ask you and your family questions
about how you sleep and how you function during the day. To help your doctor,
consider keeping a sleep diary for 1 to 2 weeks. Write down how much you sleep
each night, as well as how sleepy you feel at various times during the day.
You can find a sample sleep diary in the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's
"Your
Guide to Healthy Sleep."
Your doctor also will want to know how loudly and
often you snore or make gasping or choking sounds during sleep. Often you're
not aware of such symptoms and must ask a family member or bed partner to
report them.
If you're a parent of a child who may have sleep
apnea, tell your child's doctor about your child's signs and symptoms.
Let your doctor know if anyone in your family has
been diagnosed with sleep apnea or has had symptoms of the disorder.
Many people aren't aware of their symptoms and
aren't diagnosed.
Physical Exam
Your doctor will check your mouth, nose, and throat
for extra or large tissues. The tonsils often are enlarged in children with
sleep apnea. A physical exam and medical history may be all that's needed to
diagnose sleep apnea in children.
Adults with the condition may have an enlarged uvula
or soft palate. The uvula is the tissue that hangs from the middle of the back
of your mouth. The soft palate is the roof of your mouth in the back of your
throat.
Sleep Studies
A sleep study is the most accurate test for
diagnosing sleep apnea. It captures what happens with your breathing while you
sleep.
A sleep study is often done in a sleep center or
sleep lab, which may be part of a hospital. You may stay overnight in the sleep
center.
Polysomnogram
A polysomnogram (poly-SOM-no-gram), or PSG, is the
most common study for diagnosing sleep apnea. This test records:
- Brain activity
- Eye movement and other muscle activity
- Breathing and heart rate
- How much air moves in and out of your lungs while
you're sleeping
- The amount of oxygen in your blood
A PSG is painless. You will go to sleep as usual,
except you will have sensors on your scalp, face, chest, limbs, and finger. The
staff at the sleep center will use the sensors to check on you throughout the
night.
A sleep specialist reviews the results of your PSG
to see whether you have sleep apnea and how severe it is. He or she will use
the results to plan your treatment. |