Sleep studies are tests that measure how well you sleep and how your body responds to sleep problems. These tests can help your doctor find out whether you have a sleep disorder and how severe it is.

Sleep studies are important because untreated sleep disorders can raise your risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and other medical conditions. Sleep disorders also have been linked to an increased risk of injury, such as falling (in the elderly) and car accidents.

People usually aren't aware of their breathing and movements while sleeping. They may never think to talk to their doctors about issues that might be related to sleep problems.

However, sleep disorders can be treated. Talk with your doctor if you snore regularly or feel very tired while at work or school most days of the week.

You also may want to talk with your doctor if you often have trouble falling or staying asleep, or if you wake up too early and aren't able to go back to sleep. These are common signs of a sleep disorder.

Your doctor might be able to diagnose a sleep disorder based on your sleep schedule and habits. However, he or she also might need the results from sleep studies and other medical tests to diagnose a sleep disorder.

Sleep studies can help diagnose:

Other common signs of a sleep disorders might include:
Taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep at night.
You awaken often during the night and have trouble falling back asleep.
Your bed partner claims you snore loudly, snort, gasp, make choking sounds
         while you sleep, or stop breathing for short periods.
You have creeping, tingling, or crawling feelings in your legs that are relieved by
         moving or massaging them, especially when you try to fall asleep.
Your bed partner notices that your arms or legs jerk often during the night.

Your doctor can help you decide if you need a sleep study. Sleep studies allow doctors to
measure how much and how well you sleep. The studies can help determine if you have a
sleep disorder and how severe it may be - making treatment options clearer.

You can find more information about sleep and sleep disorders in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's "Your Guide to Healthy Sleep."