Be it healthy sleep or disrupted sleep - sleep medicine deals with both. But of course, sleep physicians are primarily concerned with disorders. Because regular sleep deprivation over a longer period of time can have serious psychological and physical consequences. Diseases and disorders that affect sleep include sleep apnea, sleepwalking, problems sleeping through the night and restless legs syndrome.
Especially when sleep disorders or sleep-wake disorder affect the organism, the specialists step in. If the sleep disorders persist for a prolonged period of time, an examination is often carried out in a sleep laboratory. Often patients then spend some time in a special room in a clinic, where they are monitored electronically throughout the night. This polysomnography is recorded and evaluated: Brain waves, heart rate, eye movements, muscle activity, oxygen saturation - there are many factors which, at the end of an extensive examination, provide an overall picture to get to the bottom of the corresponding sleep disorder. Patients with narcolepsy also consult sleep specialists.
