Our overall health and well-being rely on sleep. Yet, for many people, sleep apnea not only prevents a good night’s sleep but also contributes to a range of serious health issues. If left undetected, the condition can put people at risk for everything from stroke to heart attacks.
To diagnose sleep apnea, people traditionally need to undergo an overnight sleep study, which typically involves trying to sleep while connected to a thicket of monitors at a lab. However, in recent years and especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, healthy individuals are increasingly utilizing portable at-home sleep apnea tests that measure everything from their heart rate to their oxygen levels, right from the comfort of their own bed.
“The patient is able to stay in their normal environment rather than in a sleep lab where they are more confined and are obviously sleeping in a strange place,” says Thomas Freedom, MD, a neurologist and sleep medicine expert at NorthShore University HealthSystem, which offers at-home sleep studies.
Once the test is complete, patients can take advantage of a touchless curbside equipment drop-off, with results of the at-home sleep study available within a week.
Originally published in the Spring/Summer 2021 print issue.
Tricia Despres is a freelance writer in the Chicago area. Her work has been published in the Chicago Sun-Times, People, American Songwriter and other publications.
