Snoozing problems pinpointed by Island Hospital’s Sleep Center

Do sleepless nights have you dragging through the day, keeping your sleeping partner awake or are they so bad it’s affecting your health? If so, that means you’re in the 75 percent of the population with sleep problems. The next question is, are you of the only 10 percent that receives treatment?

Those statistics come from Island Hospital’s Sleep Center in Anacortes, which opened nearly four years ago and will soon be relocating and growing from two sleep study beds to four. The center, which follows the standards established by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, addresses sleep problems to improve the health of its patients.

And it’s a lot of patients. The center stays booked about a month in advance and conducts 14 sleep studies a week, filling each of the two beds every night.

However, when the new center opens on 22nd Street just south of the Anacortes Middle School in September, the wait will drop dramatically, said Erika Corier, a registered polysomnographic technologist who became the center’s supervisor in February. Other advantages of the new building will be additional space, new Sleep Number beds and an updated facility. “It’ll be a nice new building instead of an old one from the ‘70s,” Corier said.

In the current building, wheelchair patients have a difficult time getting around and the rooms are small, she said. The new rooms will not only be larger, but will have restrooms and a shower in each, one being ADA accessible.

The staff for the current facility adjacent to Island Hospital’s main building at 2601 M Ave. includes one receptionist, one daytime technician, two nighttime technicians and two on-call technicians. Other staff members are Corier, who previously worked as supervisor at the Swedish Sleep Medicine Institute in Seattle, and Dr. Francisco Vega, a board-certified sleep disorders physician.

Vega works only on Fridays, but will be available two days a week once the new facility opens. Vega is a neurologist and clinical neurophysiologist specializing in sleep disorders. His background included directing the epilepsy, clinical neurophysiology and sleep medicine, neurology division, at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and as an associate research scientist at John Hopkins University before joining Island Hospital. Today, he splits his time between the Sleep Health Institute at Providence Everett Medical Center and the Anacortes facility.

Corier said new sleep centers are opening as physicians and people in general are thinking more about problems associated with sleep. The phenomenon has caused an increase in everyone’s patient load, which is good, Corier said. “We want everyone to get treated,” she said.

Sleep medicine itself is relatively new, only being around for 25 to 30 years, Corier said. Physicians in the field are still finding out just how many people have sleep disorders.

Sleep medicine is also changing as new information comes about. It was first understood that men suffered the most from sleep issues, Corier said, adding that later it was deemed women reaching menopause.

Sleeping problems take many forms, from snoring to obstructive sleep apnea, when a person stops breathing, Corier said. There’s also parasomnia, when a person may talk or even walk around in their sleep. Complications from lack of restful sleep can result in general fatigue and sleepiness, breathing problems, headaches, depression and memory problems.

Causes range from stress to environmental and social factors. Obesity can also bring on sleep problems, which is why the center looks at the body mass index of its patients, Corier said. When a person sleeps, they lose muscle tone and rigidity, which can cause an airway to collapse if he or she is overweight.

That’s not to say thin people can’t have sleep problems, however, Corier said. There are underweight people who also suffer from sleep apnea and other conditions.

Other sleep-related problems include insomnia, restless-legs syndrome and narcolepsy, a condition in which the patient has uncontrollable attacks of deep sleep and/or loss of muscle control.

About 80 percent of consultations at the Island Hospital center lead to further testing in the form of sleep studies.

Since people don’t know exactly what they’re doing when they sleep, they need a witness, Corier said. During a sleep study, usually conducted from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., technicians monitor and record the patient’s heart rate, brain wave, muscle and eye movements, airflow and oxygen saturation with polysomnography sensors attached to various parts of his or her body.

Corier said the main difference between the Island Hospital Sleep Center and larger ones like the Swedish Institute is the size. The Seattle facility had 18 sleep study beds and about 35 technicians. “I think we’re more able to give individual care and TLC,” Corier said of the Anacortes facility. “A small facility has that advantage and people get to know the staff.”

To schedule an appointment or for more information on the Island Hospital Sleep Center, contact Corier at 299-8676.