But a hospital sleep study easily can exceed the cost of a night at the most pricey hotel, although insurance often will pay most of the cost. Parrott actually underwent two studies, the first because her doctor suspected a problem in 1996 and referred her to a specialist. She underwent surgery and later began using a common nighttime breathing device for people with apnea. In fact, one possible explanation for the increasing number of people diagnosed with apnea is the growing incidence of obesity in America. About one-third of all adults now are considered to be obese.
Apnea causes daytime sleepiness by preventing a person from getting uninterrupted sleep.
But in a person with apnea, there actually is a cessation of breathing, which can last for a couple of seconds to many seconds, depending on how long it takes the mind to rouse the body into resuming breathing. The breathing stoppages usually are caused by a collapse of the upper airway, especially when the person is sleeping on his or her back. Sleeping on the side or stomach can help improve breathing. When a person with apnea undergoes a sleep study, monitoring devices may show a drop in oxygen in the blood following each stoppage of breathing. The brain senses the drop in oxygen in the blood and a build-up of carbon dioxide and it arouses the person so that breathing can be resumed.