Choose a sleep disorder center
SomnoDiagnostics Inc. has provided sleep studies to Hot Springs since 1995 and specializes in diagnostics and treatments including CPAP, BiPAP and Servo Ventilation. Somno was the first Free-Standing Sleep Disorder Center in Arkansas and is owned and managed by locals Susan and Monte Griffin. Monte and Susan are personally vested in providing the highest level of service personally and economically in a nonclinical environment. SomnoDiagnostics has been JCAHO accredited since 2006 and exceeds the requirements and mandates to provide patients in our community with sleep diagnostic services.
How serious is this?
Researchers at the Institute of Medicine in 2005 estimated that more than 70 million Americans suffer from a sleep disorder. Nearly seven out of 10 Americans experience frequent sleep problems. More concerning, 50 to 70 million Americans are affected by chronic sleep disorders and intermittent sleep problems that can significantly diminish health, alertness and safety. Untreated sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, heart disease, stroke, atrial fibrillation, depression, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Sleep problems can involve too little sleep, too much sleep or inadequate quality of sleep.
A capacity for denial meets the harsh limits of reality. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drowsy driving claims more than 1,500 lives and causes at least 100,000 motor vehicle crashes each year. AAAS estimates that one out of every six (16.5 percent) deadly traffic accidents, and one out of eight (12.5 percent) crashes requiring hospitalization of car drivers or passengers is due to drowsy driving. If you complain or your partner complains of: Loud or excessive snoring, periods of stopping breathing, tired after a full nights sleep, awakening with headaches, excessive sweating during sleep, sleepiness during the day, memory loss, weight gain, loss of sex drive than you should consider calling SomnoDiagnostics to schedule a consultation with Dr. Little or speak with your primary care physician.
Dr. Little or Dr. Gibson’s task will be to sort out whether your sleepiness is a result of your sleep behaviors or a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea, or possibly another health condition that causes sleepiness. Your doctor will ask you questions about your sleep habits and review your medical and psychiatric history with you. Depending on how this goes, he or she may want to do further tests and possibly even a sleep study, or polysomnography.
How does a sleep study work?
A sleep study, or polysomnography helps doctors diagnose sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, periodic limb movement disorder, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome, insomnia, and nighttime behaviors like sleepwalking and REM sleep behavior disorder. Often these disorders cannot be identified with a normal office visit — your doctor needs to gather more conclusive evidence while you’re asleep.
A sleep study is a noninvasive, overnight exam that allows doctors to monitor you while you sleep to see what’s happening in your brain and body. For this test, you will go to a sleep lab that is set up for overnight stays. While you sleep, an EEG monitors your sleep stages and the cycles of REM and nonREM sleep you go through during the night, to identify possible disruptions in the pattern of your sleep. A sleep study will also measure things such as eye movements, oxygen levels in your blood (through a sensor — there are no needles involved), heart and breathing rates, snoring, and body movements.
A sleep study is done in a private room that is made to be comfortable and dark for sleeping. You’ll be asked to arrive about two hours before bedtime. You can bring personal items related to sleep, and you can sleep in your own pajamas. Before you go to bed, a technologist will place sensors, or electrodes, on your head and body, but you’ll still have plenty of room to move and get comfortable. Polysomnographic technologists monitor you during the night and can help you if you need to use the bathroom, for example. Many people wonder how they’ll be able to sleep under these conditions. Don’t worry about this too much — a full night of sleep is not required to gather useful information from your sleep study.
The data from your sleep study will be taken by a trained and Registered Technologist, and later evaluated by a board certified sleep specialist.
Susan is an LPN, RPSGT, RST and rated as an export scorer with Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit Michigan. Susan began her Polysomnography training in 1993.
Blake Little, M.D., is board certified in Sleep Disorders, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care and has worked with SomnoDiagnostics Inc. since 1999. He interprets sleep studies and conducts patient visits via Sleep Telemedicine for initial consultations, PAP compliancy and medication management.
Gordon Gibson, M.D., is board certified in Sleep Disorders and Neurology. Dr. Gibson has worked with Somno since 2011 and is the director of Research.
Somno is a participating provider for ABCBS, AMCO, Health Scope, Humana, Medicare, MHBF, Qual Choice and more insurance companies. When considering the costs of sleep studies, SomnoDiagnostics recommends comparing prices. Somno is a free-standing facility and that very often translates into a savings and lower out of pocket costs for the patient and insurance carrier.
SomnoDiagnostics is located at the intersection of Malvern Avenue and Ridgway in Suites A and B. You may reach us at 501-321-0547.