Blood tests can check your hormone levels and rule out endocrine disorders that may lead to your sleep disorder. Your doctor may also order other tests to look for medical conditions that may cause your sleep apnea. People with mild sleep apnea have 5-14 apnea events in an hour, those with a moderate case have 15-29 in an hour, and doctors diagnose people with 30 or more apnea events in an hour with severe sleep apnea. Watch your heart and brain activity during restīased on the number of sleep apnea events you had in an hour of the sleep test, your doctor can diagnose you with mild, moderate, or severe sleep apnea.Examine blood oxygen levels while you sleep.Find low or high levels of activity in muscles that control your breathing.
You can do these studies in a special facility or at home. Your doctor may refer you to a sleep specialist or a center for a sleep study. They’ll check your lungs, heart, and neurological systems to see if you have any common problems related to sleep apnea. They may also look at your jaw size and structure as well as the size and position of your tongue. Your doctor will perform a physical exam on you to look for signs of other conditions that can heighten your risk for sleep apnea (like obesity, narrowing of the upper airways, large tonsils, or large neck circumference). They’ll review your family’s history for sleep apnea or other sleep disorders, whether you have a risk factor for the condition, and if you have any complications of undiagnosed sleep apnea (like atrial fibrillation, hard-to-control high blood pressure, or type 2 diabetes). Your doctor will look at your signs and symptoms based on the information you give them. These locations have low oxygen, which could cause symptoms of sleep apnea for a few weeks after traveling.Ī variety of things help determine sleep apnea:
During these episodes, your diaphragm and chest muscles work harder than normal to open your airways. It happens when your airways repeatedly become completely or partially blocked during sleep, usually because the soft tissue in the back of your throat collapses.