KRHC Sleep Lab
KRHC proudly offers sleep studies within our sleep lab or int he comfort of your own home to diagnose patients with sleep-related disorders. KRHC’s sleep services are accredited through the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC). Accreditation by ACHC means that KRHC has demonstrated a level of quality, integrity, and effectiveness consistent with national standards.
Sleep Disorders Are More Common Than You Think
More than 50 million people in the United States suffer from sleep-related disorders, with over 100 million reporting inadequate sleep. Symptoms range from difficulty falling asleep to daytime sleepiness, snoring, and cognitive impairments.
Sleep disorders may arise from various causes, including underlying medical or mental health conditions, genetic factors, medications, substance use, working night shifts, or unknown reasons. Certain risk factors, such as underlying health conditions, stress, late-night shifts, and family history, increase susceptibility to sleep disorders.
Sleep disorders come in many forms. Someone suffering from sleep apnea and snoring is unable to breathe properly during sleep. A person with insomnia is unable to sleep during the night while another with narcolepsy falls asleep at inappropriate times. Restless leg syndrome can keep a person awake with excruciating restlessness or a crawling feeling in the legs when trying to sleep. These are just a few of many sleep-related disorders.
If you experience two or more of the following, you may have a sleep disorder:
- Snoring
- Trouble staying awake while watching TV, reading, or attending meetings
- Fighting sleep while driving
- Stopped breathing, snorting, or gasping for air while sleeping
- Irritability
- Trouble concentrating or remembering
- Creeping, crawling sensations in legs or
- Frequent kicking while sleeping
- Difficulty falling and staying asleep
- Talking loudly, screaming or walking in your sleep
If left untreated, sleep disorders can lead to high blood pressure, heart attack or stroke.
What Can I Expect?
The sleep study at KRHC is an overnight procedure designed to monitor and record the various changes in the body during sleep. It is staffed and supervised by professionals experienced in sleep-related disorders from MercyOne North Iowa.
During the sleep study, the patient spends the night in a comfortable, private room at KRHC, while sensors record the activity of his or her heart, breathing, body movements, and sleep patterns, including brain waves, muscle activity, body position.
The results are then used to diagnose patients with sleep-related disorders. Sleep Lab staff will analyze your sleep recordings and send a written report of the findings and recommendations to your health care provider. The Sleep Lab may also provide CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), a device that will keep your air passage open and help you breathe.
At-Home Sleep Tests are also offered and coordinated through the Respiratory Therapy department at KRHC. At-Home sleep tests are unattended tests performed by a small, pain-free device in the convenience and comfort of your home. This device collects information related to how much and how well an individual breathes while sleeping. This data is then analyzed, and a report is produced that can aide in the diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing or the need for further clinical evaluation.
If you are concerned that you may suffer from a sleep-related disorder, contact your personal KRHC health care provider. Your provider can make the arrangements for a sleep study to be performed.
Insurance coverage for sleep studies varies from company to company. Please check with your carrier for information about your specific plan.
