Dr. Kandula went on The Morning Blend to share why the quality of your sleep matters and what you can do about it.
[Tiffany] All right. We spend about a third of our lives sleeping and last Friday we asked our Facebook friends to sound off on how much sleep you get each night. The majority of you, you know, just gave a thumbs up. You're doing great. But there were definitely more than a handful who admitted that they have trouble sleeping through the night. I know so many people who admit to that.
As part of our continuing series, Sleep Well, Breathe Well with ADVENT. Dr. Madan Kandula is here to share why not just the amount, but the quality of your sleep matters and what you can do about it. Good to see you, Dr. Madan.
[Dr. Kandula] Good to be here. Thank you.
[Tiffany] Absolutely. Let's talk about this a little bit. So I'm sure a lot of viewers are wondering after that, right? They're like, OK, how much do we really need? Because I feel like you hear all these different numbers all the time.
[Dr. Kandula] Yeah, and I mean, the honest answer, it does vary from individual to individual. In a typical adult, 7 to 8 hours is kind of ballpark what you want. When you're younger, it's- you know, certainly kids need more than that. And as we get older, it does tend to get harder and harder to get sort of that quality sleep.
[Tiffany] Amen to that, right? So I know that you're an expert in sleep issues, and that's why people come to you for all their needs when it comes to sleep. But what happens if you're not getting enough sleep? I mean, I think about just the physical look of being tired, but what else?
[Dr. Kandula] Yeah, I mean it- really sleep is not a nice to have, it's a must have. And if you aren't getting proper sleep, if you aren't getting the quality sleep that your body needs and it will take a physical toll on you, a mental toll, an emotional toll. It will really sort of have ramifications throughout your life.
And so it is, I think nowadays people are starting to recognize the importance of sleep. I think even five, ten years ago was very much dismissed in sort of, Oh, that's it'd be nice to sleep, but I don't have time for that. I think now that we're starting to understand the profound impact of sleep, I think we're being much more clear in our messaging to folks who are having issues with this is that it isn't something that you can put off. It is something that you need to take seriously. Every night adds up and night after night, week after week, month after month, it does take its toll.
[Tiffany] Absolutely. I mean, I've seen the effects in my own family when people are not sleeping enough and what it can do to their mental health and more. So I want to know a little bit about this in terms of quality as well, because we could be in bed for a certain amount of time, but not be getting the right sleep or the right quality of sleep. And is it true, ADVENT now you have a way to actually help us know what kind of quality of sleep we're getting.
[Dr. Kandula] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we offer home sleep studies. There's a variety that we do offer. One in particular is really groundbreaking and it's shown here, which is really as simple as you possibly get, something that literally just sort of sits on your fingertip. You hook it up to your iPhone or your Android phone, and it allows us to determine exactly what's happening when you're sleeping at night. Are you stopping breathing? How is your oxygen levels going? How much sleep are you getting? What is the quality of that sleep? So all of those things, we get that information in real time, and it's such a convenient, easy thing to do that our patients are surprised that this exists in this day and age and that it gives them the information that we need to have and we need to know in order to help folks out. So it's it's been a remarkable change. Home sleep study testing technology has come dramatically further and further year by year, and I never imagined that something as simple would be available. And yet here we are in 2021 and it's here and it's available.
[Tiffany] That's incredible, doctor. Like, seriously like, I want to do that. I think that is the easiest thing ever. There's no, you know, all the hookups people used to think about or, you know, I've even heard my mom say, Well, I just won't sleep. If I do one of those, there's no you're going to sleep just fine with something on your finger and you're getting this quality information from that.
[Dr. Kandula] Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, it's there really is no excuse. I mean, certainly many years ago when you had to have all those monitors set up, I'd say, Yeah, that that maybe you got an excuse there. With this, literally there is no reason not to find out what's going on. There's no reason not to get to the bottom of it and no reason not to try to figure out what you might do to make things better.
[Tiffany] That's incredible. I'm so excited about that. You don't even- like, I want to do it for real. I think it's so amazing. I want my mom to do it. I want everybody I love to do it. But here's the thing a lot of people will just assume that snoring is what is the problem? Is snoring always an issue? And can you not snore and it also be an issue?
[Dr. Kandula] Yeah, I mean, certainly there are people who have sleep issues who don't snore. But if you do snore, it is impacting your sleep period. End of sentence. I think some people are like, Well, I snore, but I don't think I'm pausing. The reality is, you don't know. And the reality is, is snoring is the sound of your airway really crying out for help every time somebody's snoring at night, it's the sound of their airways collapsing down. It's shutting down. They're trying to breathe. The body is fighting against that. And while we oftentimes make light of that, there is nothing funny about the ramifications of that. And so the end of the day, I think, yeah, there are people who snore without stopping breathing and that impacts their sleep. It isn't necessarily as sort of much of emergency as sleep apnea is, but the only way to know about what do you have going on is to do a sleep study. And again, that's an easy enough thing to do. There are solutions for folks who snore. There are solutions for folks who have sleep apnea. There's really no excuse not to try to find out what's going on. What can we do? What's the extent of the problem and how do we get you on to sleeping the way you're supposed to be sleeping?
[Tiffany] I mean, anyone who is not impacted by you saying snoring is the sound of your airway reaching out for help. I mean, that is a serious statement. And like you said, it's kind of laughing. Well, because it's kind of funny, but it's not because it can be so serious, and I think anybody who wakes up tired , anybody who snores, anybody who just wants to have answers should contact you. And I know you've got this great opportunity now for opening same week appointment. I'm going to give all that information. But Dr. Madan, thank you so much for joining us today. It was good to see you.
[Dr. Kandula] Thanks for having me. Good to see you. Thank you.
[Tiffany] Absolutely. There's a special for Morning Blend viewers. As I mentioned, ADVENT has opened up the same week appointments. All you got to do is mention The Morning Blend when you call in or just chat with them on their website, you can do that easily, too. That's ADVENTknows.com. Their number if you prefer to call it (414)771-6780. Most insurances are accepted and no referral is required. There are five southeastern Wisconsin locations Wauwatosa, Mequon, Oconomowoc, Oak Creek and Pleasant Prairie. And then they also have offices in Appleton and the Chicagoland area. No excuses. We took them off the table for you.