Most of you know that if you snore, you need to RUN to the doctor to find out if you have sleep apnea.  Sleep Apnea is a lot more common that people think and a lot worse than you think.  You stop breathing several times an hour for several seconds (they clocked 40 in my case), and your blood oxygen level drops to dangerous levels.  If you snore AND you have been feeling groggy and unrested, you should get tested.

However, lots of people are put off by the required sleep study.  It takes all night, it’s expensive (if you don’t have insurance), it’s uncomfortable, and it might result in you being assigned a CPAP machine.  I know all this – I’ve had three sleep studies over the years and I use a CPAP.

However, there is hope.  Several news reports lately have talked about new ways of testing for sleep apnea which do not involve at least part of the traditional sleep study.

The SleepStrip is a one-time-use electronic gizmo that sticks around your nose and measures your breathing while you sleep.  You still have to get the results analyzed by your doctor but it’s good for finding out if you actually have sleep apnea.  They may still need you to do the full sleep study but at least you’ll know what the result is going to be.  The SleepStrip costs about $80 plus whatever the doctor charges, a lot cheaper than the traditional overnight stay for a conventional sleep study..

Shift Work Disorder News reports that Siix Corporation is developing a cigarette packet-sized device that can be used at home to assess a patient for sleep apnea. More details here.

US News and World Report talks about a University of Houston effort to develop some thermal imaging techniques to identify sleep disorders in patients.

Ask your doctor about alternative methods of testing for Sleep Apnea.  You really do need to get tested.