Respiratory Diagnosis

Our ability to breathe seamlessly often goes unnoticed until something disrupts this natural rhythm. Various conditions can throw a wrench in this smooth process, affecting our breathing patterns whether we're awake or fast asleep. Take, for instance, obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS). Now, with OHS, the challenges come when extra weight puts pressure around the muscles surrounding your lower airway, making it a bit of a struggle to get enough air in and out. It's like trying to take a deep breath while carrying a weighty backpack – not an easy task!

Then there are chest wall disorders, which can throw a curveball into the breathing game. These disorders tinker with the muscles and nerves involved in breathing, making it tough to draw in those much-needed breaths independently. It's like your body's internal orchestra encountering a few out-of-tune instruments, disrupting the smooth symphony of breath.

When it comes to diagnosis, especially when breathing issues are part of a larger condition, it can sometimes feel like piecing together a complex puzzle. Your doctor or healthcare provider becomes a bit of a detective, determining the best diagnostic route based on your symptoms and medical history. Sometimes, these breathing challenges might be a part of a broader health issue, and getting to the root of it is crucial. It's like solving a mystery where each clue, in this case, each symptom, is a piece of the puzzle leading to the right diagnosis.

One common diagnostic tool they might employ, especially if your night-time breathing is a concern, is a sleep study. Imagine this as a sort of backstage pass into your night-time breathing performance! Sleep studies help assess if you have sleep apnea, a condition where breathing stops intermittently during sleep. They can be done in the cosy confines of a sleep clinic or even in the comfort of your bed at home, no less. It's like being the star of your own sleep documentary  , where Experts analyse your breathing patterns to understand if there are any disruptions and suggest the right course of action depending on the results.

Understanding these respiratory conditions and undergoing diagnostic tests like sleep studies can be pivotal in getting the right treatment and support to help you breathe easier, whether it's during the day or while catching that good night’s sleep.

Sleep studies

If your inability to breathe at night is causing you to have Sleep apnea (you stop breathing while you’re asleep), your care provider might request that you get a sleep study. Sleep studies are used to assess whether you have sleep apnea, and if so, how severe it is. You can do a sleep study in a sleep clinic or in the comfort of your home. Read more about Sleep studies.

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Sleep Revitalizes your Mind, Body, & Heart

The body goes under many transformations, while it is in the state of rest during sleep. There are many essential functions that take place in the body such as tissue repair, memory and energy restoration, release of essential hormones, muscle relaxation, and others. While you are asleep, the brain releases indispensable hormones that promote tissue growth. This process helps your body rejuvenate from the daily hustle bustle. Moreover, tissue growth aids in the recovery from wounds or cuts. Sunita Kumar, Co-Director, Centre for Sleep Disorders, Loyola University Medical Centre, aptly remarks that during sleep the body produces more white blood cells, to fight countless bacteria and viruses1. The heart rate also registers a dip during sleep, which according to Ms. Kumar, strengthens the heart as it is at rest with lowered activity. Moreover, a good night’s sleep also reduces the chances of getting afflicted with heart diseases.

Good Sleep = Sharp Memory

Sleep is a time, when becomes sharp and strong. Sleep quantity and quality play a fundamental role in determining what one remembers and what one doesnt. Therefore, development of long-term memory (LTM) from short-term memory (STM) happens during sleep.  Scientific researches state that the brain follows a different mechanism for storing memories through the hippocampus and neo-cortex areas. Hippocampus helps you to remember your life experiences (childhood memories), while the neo-cortex is responsible for remembering the concepts you learn (name of a color). Communications and sync between the two, helps in learning new data and updating old ones.

Sleep Steers Hormonal Hunger

Sleep not only affects your energy levels and mental functions, but also regulates your body weight. Improper sleep is related to the increasing cases of obesity, worldwide2. Many hormones which regulate the feeling of hunger (ghrelin) and signal the feeling of being full (leptin), are all influenced by the quality of your sleep.  Leptin: This is also known as satiety hormone, which is produced by the fat cells of the body. It prevents overeating by sending signals to the brain that the body does not require more food, as there is enough to fuel the body.  Ghrelin: This hunger hormone is produced in the gastrointestinal tract, which signifies the body that there is need for food. This hormone rises in the body, when you feel hungry and decreases when you have consumed some food.  Studies show that people who have disrupted patterns of sleep - have larger appetite, because of higher ghrelin secretion and lowered secretion of leptin. This imbalance in the secretion of these hormones is a result of improper sleep patterns3.

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Reference

1

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/discomfort-15/better-sleep/healing-power-sleep?page=2

2

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3619301/

3

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3619301/