In the past, when a nurse asks you questions about your health sleep has rarely been a topic of discussion. This is beginning to change as we find out how closely tied sleep is to your overall health. Proper sleep helps your brain function properly keeps you more attentive and helps you learn more quickly. It affects your emotional state lessening your chance for depression. Sleep affects your physical health in many ways by lessening your chance for Heart Disease, Stoke and Diabetes. It also plays a roll in daytime performance and safety; sleep deficiency has played a role in human errors linked to tragic accidents, such as nuclear reactor meltdowns, grounding of large ships, and aviation accidents. Having a nurse aware of your sleep health is vital to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
When the nursing staff is more aware of someone sleep history their notes can help diagnose Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), which can be underlying problem to many series health conditions. It is estimated that 22 million American have OSA, 80% of those people go undiagnosed. Without treatment of OSA a persons chances of obtaining serious medical malady are greatly increased.
Here are just a few ailments that OSA can cause:
- High Blood Pressure/Hypertension
- Heart Attack
- Stoke
- Diabetes
- Obesity
One of the best ways we are changing nursing protocol to focus on sleep is by administering the Stop/Bang test. The Stop/Bang asks questions that focus on any negative sleep patterns such as:
- Loud interrupted snoring
- Nocturnal gasping episodes
- Non-refreshing sleep
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
Early recognition and diagnosis of sleep conditions will significantly improve the quality of care given to a patient. Treating patients sleep conditions will lower their associated risks for more serious medical maladies significantly. There are several treatments that can greatly reduce the symptoms of OSA or cure them all together.
Treatment of OSA will lower the lifetime medical cost of an OSA patient. An untreated OSA patient typically has medical cost of over $400,000 throughout their lifetime. By diagnosing and treatment sleep conditions early in life; we will lower the amount of time someone spends in the Hospital significantly, lessening the burden major emergency services and the lifetime wealth of our patients.
If you suspect you might have sleep apnea, been diagnosed or would like to find out how you can avoid the high risk of developing other conditions, contact one of our medical concierges today at 1-855-863-4537 to schedule a consultation.