Long Overdue Update

So I finally got myself a real job. I work at a sleep lab under the ownership of my father's practice. We essentially administer a test looking for sleep apnea in patients. The usual drill is a patient comes in, we attach 9 wires on the head to monitor brain activity, 2 wires for the eyes, 2 on the chin, 2 EKG leads, 2 chest belts, 2 wires on each leg, a snore mic, and a thermoster that rests "comfortably" on the upper/in the nostrils. The 9 wires on the head show if the patient is sleeping, or what stage he is in. The 2 eye leads show eye movement, esp. important for REM sleep. The chin leads demonstrate how relaxed the patient is. During sleep, the chin is relaxed. 2 chest belts, leg EMG's, and snore mic should be pretty obvious. The thermoster is a cool little gadget that measures heat exchange. The patient's inhale or exhale cools or heats it up, respectively. This shows breathing patterns.

The patient's sleep with all that stuff on for night one. They usually wind up diagnosed with sleep apnea, otherwise their physician would not have sent them over in the first place. A few weeks later they come in for a CPAP titration. CPAP = constant positive air pressure. Sleep apnea is caused by the tissues and muscles in the upper airway relaxing when a person falls asleep. When these tissues relax, they block the upper airway causing an apnea, or lack of breathing. Oxygen levels desaturate, and the person has an arousal to try and start their breathing again. This causes for an interrupted night's sleep without the person ever realizing it. Low oxygen levels can also reek havoc on a person's health over the years.

What CPAP does is pumps in forced room air down a person's upper airway lifting up any tissues they may have collapsed causing apneas. The titration part comes in when we, the techs, have to increase CPAP levels until there is absolutely no more blockage. The way CPAP is administered is through a variety of different mask shapes. Most common are the masks that cover the entire nose. Some patients have adverse reactions to CPAP, so there are different types of PAP that can be use, but the nuances of those different types of forced air, are well...nuances -- so I'll spare you the details.

This job does involve working nights. Only four nights a week, thankfully. Med school is still in the near future, starting with the MCAT April 26. Cheers!