Dr. Mostafavi Sleep Medicine Pioneer

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is a sleep medicine specialist?

Board certified sleep medicine specialists have undergone special training and completed additional education to ensure excellence in diagnosis and treatment of sleep-related disorders, including sleep apnea.

What are the most common sleep disorders?
-Sleep Apnea: Brief and repeated pauses in breathing during sleep.
-Narcolepsy: An irresistible need to sleep, which can manifest in "sleep attacks," resulting in sudden body collapse.
-Insomnia: The inability to fall asleep or repeated periods of wakefulness during the night.
-Parasomnia: A range of sleep events such as nightmares, sleepwalking, unusual behavior, perception during sleep, or even violence.
-Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) or Periodic Limb Movements (PLM): This condition causes discomfort and a strong inclination towards moving, twitching or jerking of the legs during sleep. People with RLS have disrupted nighttime sleep and therefore experience daytime sleepiness and fatigue.

What is sleep apnea?

There are three types of sleep apnea: central sleep apnea (CSA), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and mixed sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which you have brief and repeated pauses in breathing during sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea most commonly occurs when the soft tissue in the back of the throat, such as the soft palate, tonsils, or back of the tongue, collapses and fails to keep the airway open, blocking the breath. The resulting oxygen starvation signals the brain to partially wake up. This process can happen more than a hundred times each night. Therefore, people with sleep apnea have fragmented sleep and they never sink into deep, restorative sleep stages required for refreshment.

How common is sleep apnea?

It is remarkable that many people suffering from a condition as common and disabling as sleep apnea don’t even know they have it. More than 18 million Americans have sleep apnea. The risk for this disorder increases as you get older; it is estimated that 1 in 5 American adults has sleep apnea. As many as 80% of cases of mild and severe sleep apnea are not diagnosed.

What are some common signs of sleep apnea?

Symptoms of sleep apnea include:
-Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia)
-Decrease in attention, energy, memory, and concentration
-Irritability/moodiness
-Poor quality sleep
-Difficulty staying asleep
-Snoring, choking, or gasping sounds at night
-Episodes of breathing cessation while asleep
-Awakening with a dry mouth or sore throat
-Morning headache
-Forgetfulness and short term memory loss

Do I have sleep apnea if I snore?

Snoring and sleep apnea can be related. There is a positive correlation between snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness (4), which is caused by sleep apnea. However, not all patients that have sleep apnea snore and not everyone who snores has sleep apnea. If you snore at night and experience sleepiness during daytime, you should not underestimate your symptoms. It is very important that you speak to your doctor about your symptoms to be further evaluated for sleep apnea.

Is sleep apnea dangerous?

If left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to a growing number of adverse health consequences. Sleep apnea has been associated with cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, sexual dysfunction, type 2 diabetes and increased risk of accidents.

What are risk factors for sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea occurs more often in men than in women and individuals with a positive family history are more likely to have sleep apnea. Obesity and excessive alcohol consumption might lead to sleep apnea. Patients with coronary artery disease and refractory hypertension are at increased risk of developing sleep apnea.

How can sleep apnea be diagnosed?

Doctors diagnose sleep apnea based on your symptoms, physical exam, family history and sleep study results. Sleep studies allow doctors to note sleep patterns and sleep­related problems that you might not know about or can't describe during routine office visits and are helpful towards reaching a definitive diagnosis.

I think I might have sleep apnea. What should I do?

If you think that you may have sleep apnea, it is very important to get diagnosed so that you can begin treatment and prevent detrimental health consequences. It is very important that you speak to your doctor about your symptoms to be further evaluated for sleep apnea

What are the treatments for sleep apnea?

There are several treatment options for sleep apnea: PAP (positive airway pressure) treatment involves a machine which delivers air pressure through a masked placed on your nose while sleeping. This pressure is adjusted to keep your airway open and prevent apnea as well as snoring. It is a very effective treatment, resulting in very high success rates when used faithfully. Multiple surgery choices are also available to expand airways and treat sleep apnea. Oral appliances which are designed to keep throat tissue from blocking the airway can also be beneficial in treatment of sleep apnea.

What is an In Lab Sleep Test?

An In Lab Sleep test provides your doctor with the most complete evaluation of your sleep towards making a diagnosis and development of a treatment plan. It takes place overnight and you will be required to stay overnight at a sleep center. The patient sleeps in a private room and a technician oversees the patient throughout the night to ensure the most accurate results possible. An in lab study records brainwaves, heartbeats, oxygen saturation, limb motion and eye movement as you sleep through detailed sensors.

How do I schedule an in­center sleep study?

A board­certified sleep medicine physician may recommend an in­lab sleep study after a thorough evaluation of your symptoms, physical exam findings as well as your medical and family history in an office visit. You will then be referred to a sleep center to have your sleep study done. The request for your sleep study will be sent to the sleep center of your choice and a patient care coordinator will contact you to schedule your in­center sleep study.

How do I get my in­center sleep study results?

After your sleep specialist receives your sleep study results from the sleep center in which you had your test done, we will call you to schedule you for a follow up visit. In your follow up visit after a sleep study, your doctor will discuss the results, diagnosis and the treatment options with you to ensure you receive the most effective treatment based on your unique experience of sleep apnea or other sleep disorders.

What is a At Home Sleep Test?

An At Home Sleep Test (HST) is designed to be a convenient, comfortable way to provide your doctor with information about your sleep. It takes place in the comfort of your own home and is a simple way to ascertain if you are suffering from a sleep disorder. A technician instructs you on how to use the home­testing machine prior to the test as well as answering all your questions. You will then turn on the machine at home based on the instructions and sleep in your own bed while the machine records metrics like heartbeats and the effort with which you breathe.

How do I schedule a home sleep study?

A board ­certified sleep medicine physician may recommend a home sleep study after a thorough evaluation of your symptoms, physical exam findings as well as your medical and family history in an office visit. You will then be referred to a sleep center. The request for your sleep study will be sent to the sleep center of your choice and a patient care coordinator will contact you when you can book an appointment to pick up your home study equipment at the closes sleep center to you. Alternatively, someone may deliver the home sleep apnea test to your home depending on what sleep center you are referred to.

How do I get my HST results?

After your sleep specialist receives your sleep study results from the sleep center in which you had your test done, we will call you to schedule you for a follow up visit. In your follow up visit after a sleep study, your doctor will discuss the results, diagnosis and the treatment options with you to ensure you receive the most effective treatment based on your unique experience of sleep apnea or other sleep disorders.

What is Narcolepsy?

Narcolepsy is a serious, life­long neurological disorder caused by the loss of nerve cells leading to brain’s inability to regulate sleep wake cycles. This disease involves irregular patterns in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.

What are the symptoms of Narcolepsy?

-Excessive Daytime Sleepiness
-Cataplexy: in which strong emotions such as laughter, anger or surprise cause sudden brief loss of muscle tone. Knees might buckle and even give way during this event.
-Sleep paralysis: a brief moment to several minutes of inability to move, speak, or react during falling to sleep or awakening, associated with REM. Episodes can last from a brief moment to several minutes.
-Hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations are vivid unusual audio and visual phenomena experienced just before or during awakening.
-Disrupted Nighttime Sleep
-Automatic Behavior (AB): purposeless performance of tasks that are often routine or repetitive without conscious knowledge.
-Memory Lapses

What causes cataplexy?

Cataplexy is caused by loss of brain cells that produce neurotransmitters which are involved in the regulation of the sleep/wake cycle as well as other bodily functions.

Is cataplexy dangerous?

In mild cataplexy, one can often find support for weakened head, neck or arm muscles and others.