Sleep Disorders Center

Paradise Valley Hospital is home to a state-of-the-art sleep disorders and research center. How you sleep has a significant impact on your mental and physical health. Our doctors specialize in sleep disorders and work in carefully controlled environments to study and evaluate snoring, breathing, arousals, movements, and related behaviors during patients’ sleep cycles. In addition, studies assess the root cause for unwanted sleepiness or the inability to fall asleep.

Paradise Valley Hospital performs sleep studies to evaluate snoring, breathing, arousals, movements, and certain behaviors during sleep. In addition, studies are performed to assess sleepiness or one’s ability to stay awake. Sensors are placed on your head, face, and body to closely monitor and record your brain waves, eye movements, muscle activity, breathing patterns, blood oxygen levels, and heart rate and rhythm during sleep. After the sleep study is completed and “scored,” the sleep physician will review the recording in order to establish a diagnosis and treatment plan, which will be reviewed with you in a follow-up visit.

Preparing for Your Visit:
For patients admitted to the Sleep Disorders Center, please view the Patient Instruction page with information on items to bring with you on the day of your appointment and helpful suggestions.

Healthy Sleep Leads To:

• Improved cardiovascular health and reduced chance of heart attacks
• Reduced hypertension or the chance of its occurrence
• Less fatigue and sleepiness
• An improved sense of well-being

Obstructive Sleep Apnea
which affects more than 18 million Americans. It is characterized by loud snoring with gasping, snorting, or pauses in breathing during sleep. Often times the person suffering from sleep apnea will complain of being very tired after sleeping all night – even more tired than when they went to bed. The most widely used and effective treatment for sleep apnea is positive airway pressure therapy. Other treatment options include weight

Insomnia
the most common of all sleep disorders. The chief complaint is difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep. It can be a symptom of another disorder or a primary condition. Depression and pain, frequently make the condition worse.

Restless Legs Syndrome
a disagreeable feeling in the legs that can only be relieved by moving them. The symptoms are often described as creepy-crawly, twitching, or an itching sensation. This most often occurs at night, making it difficult to rest or sleep.

Narcolepsy
a condition that causes overwhelming sleepiness – “sleep attacks.” Other symptoms associated with narcolepsy are cataplexy, vivid dreaming and sleep paralysis.

Inadequate Sleep Hygiene
a sleep disorder caused by bad sleep habits, unhealthy pre-sleep rituals, and/or a poor sleep environment.

Insufficient Sleep Syndrome
a disorder that occurs when an individual persistently fails to obtain sufficient sleep without the presence of another sleep disturbance. Sleep disorders that shorten sleep time or disrupt sleep can have a negative effect on your health. Your risk for weight gain, depression, high blood pressure, changes in blood sugar, heart disease, stroke, and fatigue-related accidents all elevate with chronic lack of sleep.

For more information contact:
Mohamad A Alsakka, RPSGT
Technical Director, Paradise Valley Hospital Sleep Disorders Center
3815 E Bell Rd. Suite 3100
Phoenix, AZ 85032
Tel: 602.765.4354
Fax: 602.765.4394
Email: ma.e@cox.net

When should you see your physician?

• If you are sleepy in the “daytime” in spite of 8 hours in bed every night.
• If you snore loudly and especially if you actually stop breathing at night.
• If you have violent behaviors during your sleep.
• If you are always very sleepy and have had muscle weakness when you get emotional.
• If you have ever had an auto accident or a near miss accident because you were drowsy, or fell asleep while driving.

If you regularly experience any of the above, especially when related to unsatisfactory sleep, it may be an indication of a potential sleep disorder. We encourage you to speak to our staff and learn if a sleep study is right for you. We look forward to helping you get that well-deserved rest you’ve been dreaming of.