It may surprise you to know that getting little to no sleep (under 2 hours) for just one night causes enough impairment as to be unfit to drive a vehicle, according to the National Sleep Foundation. 

In this article, we will discuss four common questions regarding home sleep testing, an exciting, new diagnostic testing option for sleep disorders.  

1) What is a home sleep study?

A home sleep apnea test (HST) is a diagnostic procedure to determine whether you have obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is by far the most common type of sleep disordered breathing. Tens of millions of people in the United States have OSA, and medical authorities estimate that 80% of OSA sufferers are as yet undiagnosed. OSA correlates very closely with obesity rates, which hover around one-third of the U.S. population. Current medical guidelines say that HSTs are appropriate for the vast majority of patients who need sleep diagnostic testing.

Sleep Hygiene Defined and Why It's Important

Sleep hygiene is the term the sleep medicine community uses to refer to behaviors that impact the quality and quantity of sleep. According to the CDC, one in ten people in the United States has chronic insomnia - that's roughly 32 million Americans! Sleep hygiene, when poor, can be a major contributor to sleep difficulties. When patients report poor sleep quality or abnormal sleep patterns, one of the things that I always discuss with them is how to best manage exposure to blue light in the evening.