The Secret to a Good Night's Sleep Can Now Be Found in Westlake

Nancy Russo stopped breathing 40 times – for at least 10 seconds at a time – during the first four hours of her sleep study.

The 60-year-old Westlake resident had an inkling something was happening while she slept. She was clued in by her roommate who said she made a heavy noise when she dozed. But she was amazed – frightened, really – by the results of her overnight observation conducted earlier this month at the MetroHealth’s new Center for Sleep Medicine West Campus.

“I said ‘Whoa, I’ve got sleep apnea,'” said Russo, who pulled the covers off of her disorder at the Westlake campus located within TownePlace Suites on Sperry Drive.

After waking at 1 a.m., the sleep technician recommended that Russo put on a mask and use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, commonly used to treat sleep apnea, and a therapy she has started using in her home after receiving the official diagnosis once her sleep study was analyzed by her doctor.

“I never was much of a sleeper, but then I went on third shift and I am up all night and it’s hard to come home and have breakfast at 9:15 a.m. and force yourself to lay down,” Russo said. “Sometimes I wouldn’t sleep at all.”

Sleep apnea is one of the most common and serious sleep disorders, said Dr. Joyce Lee-Iannotti, a sleep medicine physician at MetroHealth.

“It has been linked with stroke and cardiovascular disease,” she said. A major risk factor for sleep apnea is being overweight or obese.

Other common sleep disorders include insomnia, restless leg syndrome, parasomnias such as sleepwalking and sleep talking, and narcolepsy.

The best way to accurately diagnose a sleep disorder is by using a sleep study, Lee-Iannotti said. During the study, patients are observed and monitored during an overnight stay at one of MetroHealth’s three locations – on its main campus, in Independence or in one of two private rooms at TownePlace Suites in Westlake.

“This new location is Westlake is really convenient for our Westsiders who don’t want to travel very far for their sleep study,” she said. “It has a more homelike feel than our other two sites. Our patients definitely prefer to go to the hotel suite when it’s available – our goal is to try to mimic their comforts of home.”

Patients can bring anything from home that will allow them to sleep better including pillows, blankets, stuffed animals and even a spouse, if necessary.

Patients are monitored via electrodes which are place on their head, arms and legs, if necessary. In addition, sleep technicians place belts across their chest and abdomen to analyze respiratory effort.

“Sleep is important for everybody,” Lee-Iannotti said. “It’s restoration essentially so that we can function during the day and it allows our body to reset on a nightly basis.”

Her tips for a good night sleep?

“Make your bed a haven for rest and eliminate any distracters,” she said. “We always tell our patients the bed should be for the two s’s: sleep and sex.”

Other recommendations for a good night's sleep include:

• Outfit your bedroom with dark shades.

• Eliminate noise and distractions. That means no TV, no reading, no pets and no children in bed.

• Go to bed when you are tired. If you don’t fall asleep in 20 minutes, get out of the bedroom and read, check your email or watch TV. “We don’t encourage people to stay in their bed because it exacerbates their anxiety from not being able to sleep,” Lee-Iannotti said.

• Limit your caffeine intake at least four hours before going to bed.

• No smoking two hours before bed.

• Don’t do strenuous exercise within four to six hours of bedtime.