Many people today suffer from insomnia. Insomnia is a symptom of not being able to sleep properly despite being given the appropriate time and opportunity. In particular, students and office workers who are chased by their busy schedules experience insomnia due to the extreme mental and physical stress. In addition, there are many unfortunate cases in which people cannot sleep on time due to sleep habits, sleep disorders, mental illness, and psychological anxiety.
Insomnia types are divided into acute insomnia, which occurs for a short period of less than 1 month, and chronic insomnia, which occurs for more than 1 month. Acute insomnia is a type of insomnia that can appear when you are under a lot of stress due to exams, business failure, job turnover, bereavement, separation, etc. The problem is that acute insomnia can lead to chronic insomnia if left untreated in a timely manner.
Chronic insomnia is a state of insomnia lasting more than 6 months. Some people are prescribed sleep inducers to improve insomnia symptoms. Sleep inducers are drugs that induce sleep by suppressing the central nervous system.
Sleep inducers can help to some extent in overcoming insomnia. However, long-term use of sleep inducers for more than 2 weeks should be avoided, as there are concerns regarding side effects such as headache and constipation due to central nervous system depression.
Therefore, if insomnia persists, it is better to undergo a detailed examination and treatment instead of unconditionally taking medications. First, it is necessary to closely understand the types of insomnia, and polysomnography is helpful in this case.
Polysomnography is a standard test essential for diagnosing various sleep disorders such as insomnia, snoring, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and abnormal behavior during sleep caused by complex problems. This test includes electroencephalography (EEG), safety test (EOG), electromyography (EMG), electrocardiogram (ECG), and video recording to check overall sleep status to objectively diagnose problems occurring during sleep. principle to be implemented. During the test, you can attach various test equipment and 20 sensors related to sleep movement, and then lie down in bed and go to sleep as usual.
Recently, polysomnography has been found to contribute to identifying important physiological signals related to the evaluation of sleep disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea. While the patient is sleeping, it is possible to simultaneously record several physiological signals, including physical activity of the brain, heart and muscles.
An important point is that there are qualitative differences in facilities and equipment related to polysomnography for each medical institution. Therefore, if you are considering polysomnography for the treatment of insomnia, you should carefully check the facilities of the hospital. It is also recommended to receive a diagnosis at a sleep clinic medical institution where a sleep technician manages and supervises the overall polysomnography test.
It is also important to ensure that the environment, such as bed hygiene, is in an environment where the patient can sleep comfortably during the examination.
Director Lee Se-yoon of Doori Otolaryngology Bundang Branch