Sleep Study: when should you get one done?

A sleep study is a comprehensive examination of how your mind and body react when you are asleep.

When should you get a sleep study done?

First, let us understand what they study. I was surprised to learn how comprehensive these studies are.

They look at the electrical signals in your heart using an ECG. They study brain waves using an EEG. They look at the movement of your chin and leg muscles using an electromyogram (EMG). Your oxygen saturation is studied. The amount and period your body moves and even the sounds you make are all examined.

It is a comprehensive test.

Global standards have been established for each of these parameters and how you ought to react when asleep. Based on these baselines, the study would reveal the quality of your sleep.

They are looking for the number of sleep cycles and the quality of sleep during each of the stages within the cycle. You typically have about five stages per cycle.

So why should you get one done?

If you feel tired during the day. If you experience excessive, unwarranted sleepiness. If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Or if someone tells you that you snore during the night. All of these are indicative of disturbed or incomplete sleep.

A sleep study will tell you just how incomplete it is.

A sleep study is not the most convenient thing to do. Imagine sleeping strapped to all sorts of gadgets that are measuring your vitals. Just the notion itself could cause disturbed sleep.

So why should you not just use your watch to get a sleep study done? After all they report your body movement, quality of sleep and so on.

The answer is it depends on what you are looking for. Watches, are yet to be reliable at a clinical level. While they are now reporting the ability to detect sleep apnea, it is still a few years before they become medical grade.

So if your problem is severe, get a medical grade sleep study done also known as a polysomnogram.

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