Essentia Health’s Sleep Lab Helps Diagnose Disorders

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Sleep disorders are extremely common affecting virtually everyone at some point in their lives.

They can lead to serious stress and other health consequences.

The new Essentia Health–South University Sleep Lab is diagnosing and treating sleep disorders.

The sleep lab provides comprehensive care to its patients by monitoring their sleep stages and cycles to identify when a patient’s sleep patterns are disrupted and why.

Brain waves, eye movement, breathing and heart rate are a few of the things they monitor to help diagnose a disorder like insomnia, parasomnia, and narcolepsy among others.

Sleep Apnea which involves how you breathe in your sleep is the most common one Dr. Shaun Christenson comes across.

It can be treated in a few ways.

Sleep Lab Medical Director Dr. Shaun Christenson says, “Conservative treatment would be weight loss for a lot of people. But if that’s not an option, using a c–pap can be an option. Dentists can make oral mandibular advancement devices or rarely surgical options are utilized.”

Over–the–counter sleep aids can help temporarily but cognitive behavioral therapy and medication are recommended for long term assistance.

You can get more of an idea if you possibly have a sleeping disorder by whether or not your so–called “lack of sleep” is effecting you daily.

Dr. Christenson adds, “Sleep disorder is a concern anytime that it can have an impact on your life. So if all of a sudden you’re falling asleep at work. Behind the wheel of a car. Of course that is a huge impact on your life and safety.”

People often hear about the importance of a good diet as well as exercise but Dr. Christenson says that sleep is just as important with adults needing between 6 to 8–hours a night.