Sleep Disorders

Sleep disorders are very common. Dr. Humphreys and his staff are well trained in using the latest technology to diagnose and treat individuals who suffer sleeping disorders, including sleep apnea.

Lufkin is home to two Sleep Labs which patients can be tested overnight.

Getting a good night’s sleep is easier than you think – just ask about the testing and treatments available.

Sleep Apnea defined:

There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; of the three, obstructive is the most common. Despite the difference in the root cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer.

Symptoms include:

Daytime sleepiness, fatigue, poor sleep and dream abnormalities, hypertension, irritation and personality change
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep.
Central sleep apnea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe.

Mixed apnea, as the name implies, is a combination of the two. With each apnea event, the brain briefly arouses people with sleep apnea in order for them to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality.
 

Sleep apnea is very common, as common as adult diabetes, and affects more than twelve million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health. Sleep Apnea can cause death in severe cases, from heart, lung or brain failure.
 

Risk factors:

include being male, overweight, and over the age of forty, but sleep apnea can strike anyone at any age, even children. Yet still because of the lack of awareness by the public and healthcare professionals, the vast majority remain undiagnosed and therefore untreated, despite the fact that this serious disorder can have significant consequences.

Other health factors:

Untreated, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches. Moreover, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle crashes. Fortunately, sleep apnea can be diagnosed and treated. Several treatment options exist, and research into additional options continues.

Treatments:
Using the Sleep Labs at Woodland Heights Medical Center and Memorial Health System in Lufkin, we can successfully diagnose and plan treatment for your sleep apnea.

Utilizing state-of-the-art technology, patients can be evaluated overnight in the sleep labs and then, if necessary, fitted with devices to alleviate the problem.