Sleep Disorders
Somnatek Sleep Health Center provided evaluation and diagnosis for the full range of recognized sleep disorders. The following information is provided for general educational reference. Somnatek is no longer accepting patients or providing clinical guidance. Individuals with sleep concerns should consult a current sleep medicine provider.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when the airway partially or fully collapses during sleep, causing repeated interruptions to breathing. These events may occur dozens to hundreds of times per night and are typically not perceived by the sleeper. Symptoms include loud snoring, observed breathing pauses, unrefreshing sleep, and excessive daytime sleepiness.
Diagnosis is confirmed through polysomnography or, in appropriate clinical circumstances, an attended home sleep test. Somnatek provided both in-lab and home-based diagnostic services. An Apnea-Hypopnea Index (AHI) of 5 or more events per hour confirms the diagnosis; severity classification ranges from mild (5–14) to moderate (15–29) to severe (30 or more).
The standard first-line treatment for moderate to severe OSA is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. Alternatives include oral appliance therapy, positional modification, and surgical referral in selected cases.
Insomnia
Insomnia is characterized by persistent difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, or by early morning awakening, in the presence of adequate sleep opportunity. Chronic insomnia disorder is defined by symptoms occurring at least three nights per week for at least three months, with associated daytime impairment.
Contributing factors may include conditioned arousal, hyperarousal, anxiety, mood disturbance, medical conditions, medications, and irregular sleep scheduling. First-line treatment for chronic insomnia is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), which addresses both behavioral and cognitive components of the disorder. Pharmacological management may be appropriate as adjunctive therapy in selected cases.
Hypersomnia
Hypersomnia disorders are characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness that cannot be attributed to insufficient nighttime sleep or another sleep disorder. The primary conditions evaluated at Somnatek included narcolepsy (with and without cataplexy) and idiopathic hypersomnia.
Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder resulting from the loss of hypocretin-producing neurons. Cardinal features include excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep-onset REM periods, sleep paralysis, and hypnagogic hallucinations. Cataplexy, when present, is pathognomonic. Diagnosis is supported by polysomnography followed by a Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT).
Idiopathic hypersomnia is characterized by prolonged, unrefreshing sleep and profound sleep inertia in the absence of other identifiable cause. Patients frequently report difficulty awakening even after extended sleep periods and describe post-awakening cognitive impairment lasting hours.
Parasomnias
Parasomnias are undesirable behavioral or experiential events that occur during sleep or the transitions between sleep and waking. Somnatek evaluated patients presenting with a range of parasomnia subtypes.
NREM parasomnias include sleepwalking, sleep terrors, and confusional arousals. These events arise from incomplete arousal from slow-wave sleep and are typically characterized by minimal or absent recall. Patients may exhibit complex motor behavior without conscious awareness.
REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is characterized by loss of normal muscle atonia during REM sleep, resulting in motor enactment of dream content. Patients may vocalize, gesture, or engage in complex movements that mirror reported dream scenarios. RBD is associated with synucleinopathy and warrants longitudinal neurological monitoring.
Sleep paralysis occurs during the transition between sleep and waking when voluntary motor function is transiently suppressed. Episodes are frequently accompanied by hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations, which may be vivid and distressing. The hallucinations are benign and do not reflect underlying psychiatric pathology in the absence of additional clinical features.
Circadian Rhythm Disorders
Circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders arise from misalignment between the internal circadian clock and the desired or required sleep schedule. Types evaluated at Somnatek included delayed sleep-wake phase disorder, advanced sleep-wake phase disorder, shift work disorder, and irregular sleep-wake rhythm disorder.
Diagnosis involves sleep diaries, actigraphy, and in some cases dim-light melatonin onset measurement. Management may include strategic light exposure, melatonin supplementation, and behavioral chronotherapy.