Quality sleep: Meritus Pulmonary Consultants there to help

Are you getting quality sleep?

When you wake in the morning, do you feel refreshed, or do you feel tired and lack energy during the day?

“I strongly encourage our patients, regardless of age, weight or gender, that when they go to see their regular doctor, that they don't hide or avoid discussing problems related to sleep or how they feel related to tiredness during day,” said Kalim Ahmed, M.D., with Meritus Pulmonary Consultants.

Pulmonologists specialize in diagnosing and treating conditions affecting the respiratory system. Dr. Ahmed and the physicians at Meritus Pulmonary treat such things as COPD, asthma, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and anything else related to breathing.

As part of Meritus Health, they also visit patients at Meritus Medical Center related to lung problems such as pneumonia or other infections.

But Dr. Ahmed said many patients are treated for sleep-related conditions. That includes everything from insomnia and narcolepsy to sleep walking and acting out in dreams.

However, the largest sleep-related group are those being treated for sleep apnea, which is when a person’s airway closes while they’re asleep, causing them to wake up just enough to start breathing, but not enough to become fully conscious, leading to poor-quality sleep.

A common symptom is snoring, but other symptoms can include shortness of breath, dryness of the mouth, irregular heart rhythm and uncontrolled blood pressure, among others.

“It’s the quality of the sleep,” Dr. Ahmed said. “Are you satisfied with the quality of your sleep? If you think you’re sleeping well through the night, but you’re not feeling that refreshment when you wake up, that means there is something going on during sleep.”

Meritus Pulmonary Consultants has four locations — on Oak Ridge Avenue in Hagerstown, at Robinwood Professional Center, in Frederick, Maryland, and in McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania. Each has a sleep lab, where a sleep study can be performed on patients who might have sleep apnea.

The patient has sensors attached to different parts of their body that monitor breathing, brain activity, heart rate and other data. The patient then goes to sleep in a comfy bed for the night while a specialist monitors them.

The patient is also usually connected to a continuous positive air pressure machine, also known as a CPAP. Using a mask that is fitted to the nose or mouth, it blows air at a certain pressure that causes the muscle in the throat — where snoring happens — to stay open. This keeps the patient breathing while asleep.

In recent years, technology has advanced to where sleep specialists can give patients a device and instructions to perform some of the study at home, Dr. Ahmed said.

“It collects some, but not all, of the data,” he said. “It doesn’t evaluate the whole sleep, but it’s a good indicator of a patient’s condition.”

Sleep apnea treatment usually means using a CPAP while sleeping. Dr. Ahmed said that the majority of people are open to wearing the mask and see immediate improvements to their health.

That shows just how important proper sleep is.

“A lot of times, we tend to avoid talking about sleep with our doctor because we feel we’re wasting the doctor’s time,” Dr. Ahmed said. “I take this over-the-counter medication or that one to help me sleep, and that is not the way to approach it. Communicate with your doctor about your sleep-related issue.”

To learn more about Meritus Pulmonary Consultants, visit www.meritushealth.com/pulmonary.