Sleep Disorders

What exactly is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep.

Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. These events can occur between 5 and 30 times or more per hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound.

Sleep apnea usually is a chronic (ongoing) condition that disrupts your sleep. You often move out of deep sleep and into light sleep when your breathing pauses or becomes shallow.

This results in poor sleep quality that makes you tired during the day. Sleep apnea is one of the leading causes of excessive daytime sleepiness.

Sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed

Doctors usually can’t detect the condition during routine office visits. Also, there are no blood tests for the condition.

Most people who have sleep apnea don’t know they have it because it only occurs during sleep. A family member and/or bed partner may first notice the signs of sleep apnea.

The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea. This most often means that the airway has collapsed or is blocked during sleep. The blockage may cause shallow breathing or breathing pauses. When you try to breathe, any air that squeezes past the blockage can cause loud snoring.
Kootenay Smile Studio has the technology to help diagnose your risk for sleep apnea.

MediByte Junior

Kootenay Smile Studio has the technology to help diagnose your risk for sleep apnea.

The Medibyte Junior is a 6-channel screener, which can record up to 2 nights in a row on 1 battery. It’s ideal for use at home to screen sleep apnea. The device is small and light in weight and is CPAP compatible.

It can monitor your heart rate, flow (pressure transducer), snore (derived from pressure), body position, CPAP flow, CPAP pressure.