Troubles Sleeping? Morehouse Opens State-of-the-Art Sleep Center in SW Atlanta

Morehouse School of Medicine recently opened a full-service sleep diagnostic
center on the school’s AUC campus where physicians can identify causes of various sleep disorders.

”Nearly 30 million Americans toss and turn, wake frequently, snore, or even
stop breathing for prolonged periods,” says Kyra P. Clark, M.D., Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) resident sleep expert. “The quality of life of these patients is severely affected, as many sleep disorders are under recognized.”

Morehouse’s sleep diagnostics offers comprehensive evaluations to determine how to best meet the needs of patients. According to a prepared press release,
"proper diagnosis helps in the management of conditions that prevent sleep, disrupts sleep or affects the sleep wake cycle for pediatric (starting at age 12) to geriatric patients."

One of several possible tools is a sleep study or polysomnogram, a test that records what happens to your body during sleep. A sleep study is often a part of a comprehensive sleep evaluation to help find out what is causing your sleep problems, which could include:

• Sleep apnea, when an adult regularly stops breathing during sleep for 10 seconds or longer.
• Irregular nighttime behaviors, such as sleepwalking, night terrors, or bed-wetting.
• Insomnia or difficulty sleeping at night.
• Problems sleeping during the day because you work at night or do rotating shift work. This sleep problem is called shift work sleep disorder
• Periodic limb movement disorder, which is repeated muscle twitching of the feet, arms, or legs during sleep
• Narcolepsy, uncontrollable sleepiness during the day

“We recognize now that a growing number of health problems are related to inadequate sleep and interrupted sleep patterns,” explains Dr. Clark. “Advancements in medical technology allow diagnosis, as well as successful long-term treatment.”

Click here for virtual tour of the sleep lab!