Dr. Kandula went on The Morning Blend to talk about a revolution in home sleep apnea diagnosis.
First up today, did you catch some good Zs last night? If you struggle to sleep, one of the best ways to figure out what's wrong is to do a sleep study. That is the topic of today's Breathe Well, Sleep Well series with ADVENT. Dr. Madan Kandula is a sleep and sinus expert. He is also the founder and CEO of ADVENT. And in just a moment, we're going to see what the world's smallest home sleep study looks like. Can't wait to get to it. Good morning to you doctor.
Good morning. Good morning.
All right. Let's talk about this a little bit because before we jump into this smallest sleep study in the world and getting a chance to check it out, I'd love for you to just share some of your thoughts with our viewers-it's probably still fresh on their minds, how well that they slept-who is a good candidate for a sleep study?
Yeah, I mean, really anybody who's having issues when they sleep. The device we're talking about today is mainly used for folks who snore or feel like they might be stopping breathing at night. So if you're snoring at night, if you're waking up tired, if you're tired throughout the day... Any of those things suggest highly suggest that yeah, you got something going on with your sleep. If you have high blood pressure, if you have heart disease, if you have diabetes and you also have any of these other sleep issues, you basically have a sleep problem until proven otherwise. So I think that there's a lot of folks who have issues and most folks find a good reason to, you know, find an excuse to not to do something. With what we're talking about today, here's really no excuse not to do anything anymore.
Yeah, it's all about women forcing their men, I think, in a lot of cases. Not that women don't snore too, but a lot of times we got to push the guys. You know, over the years you've talked about sleep studies and why they're important and who needs them. What I'd love to know is what does a sleep study tell you as the doctor?
Yeah. It tells us what's happening when you're sleeping at night. It tells us really basically with what we're looking for, if your oxygen levels are dropping, if you're stopping breathing, are you getting into those deep levels of sleep? So really reporting back to us, what's happening to your body, to your mind when you're sleeping at night and it's crucial information. So if you snore and you think you might have a problem, there's really no way to know for sure, without doing a test. And that test, again, has never been easier than today.
Okay. So we just mentioned a little while ago, smallest sleep study in the world. This is something that you just started offering this year. It's apparently groundbreaking. Tell us about it.
Yeah. It's so simple. It's literally, as you're watching this video, it's something that you just tape onto your finger. It's measuring your pulse oximetry, which is the oxygen level in your blood. It's measuring also the tone in those blood vessels, which allows us to figure out what's happening with your breathing. It's simple, it's as simple as putting a bandaid on your finger, downloading an app to your phone, and going to sleep. It couldn't be simpler. It truly is remarkable,
Well, to me, the fact that people can do this at home too, to me means the results are going to be that much more accurate because we've in the past, people would always go to a sleep lab. And I always wondered how do people fall asleep if they know they're being monitored and in there at a sleep lab? So you guys have always been known as pioneers. What are your thoughts on that? The idea of it being at home rather than in lab?
Yeah, I mean, it's key. So back in the old days, the only option was go to a sleep lab, go to a hospital to try to sleep in a bed that's not comfortable with tons of monitors on you. And it was very, very hard. About five to seven years ago, home sleep testing came into being, and that was a big deal. And that allowed a lot of folks to be able to do that in their home. And technology has come a long way over that same time period. It's actually gotten to a place where it's beyond what I would have ever imagined in my career. There's certain advances, balloon sinuplasty is one of them, in-office CT scanning is another one. This home sleep study testing capacity is something that I never really thought would be possible. And you know, literally I've got it on my finger today just to show you how easy it is. And it is truly remarkable and it gives us all the information we need to figure out what's going on to get somebody to relief that they need.
Well, I'm excited about this. I think it, it could be potentially life-changing or life-saving, doctor, because we've, we've talked before on the show about the fact that sleep apnea can cause problems that are significant for people, even a matter of life and death if it's undiagnosed. And I think for people listening today, a lot of people are gonna think I need a sleep study, but I think- not to make a joke about it, but I think a lot of people are going to say, my partner needs to have this study. So how do you start? How do you get involved?
Yeah, I mean, I think from our vantage point, it's making it as easy as possible for folks to reach out for help. And so for us, it's as easy as going to our website, setting up appointment. We need to understand what's going on before we set you up for a sleep study. So it's really listening to you, listening to what's happening, looking at you, seeing what's going on. And then, if it's appropriate, sending you up to have the sleep study done. And again, it couldn't be easier these days. So if you feel like there's an issue, there likely is, and the first step is the most important step, which is taking action. Doing that and making that first step is super important. And I know it's hard, it's sometimes very, very hard to convince those that are next to you or around you to take action. And so the easier that we can make it be, the easier it is for you to hopefully have a convincing argument to take some action.
Good for you. I love that. We ran out of time, but I have to know, do people have to sleep a minimum number of hours for this to work or be helpful?
Ideally sleeping as long as possible. What's normal. So four hours is what we're really looking for in one night. The nice thing with this device is we can have you do multiple nights because it's as simple as having something on your finger. So if we're not getting the right data, we can make sure that we get that data and then take action, which is so easy these days.
Fantastic. Thank you for your time. Important stuff.
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Absolutely. And ADVENT released some additional new patient appointments online for Morning Blend viewers. So you can have the opportunity to be seen this week. So go to ADVENTknows.com to schedule online in just 60 seconds. Most insurances are accepted. No referral is required. Milwaukee area locations are in Wauwatosa. Mequon, Oconomowoc, Oak Creek and Pleasant Prairie. They also have offices in Appleton and in Illinois, if that's closer.