Had a sleep study at a sleep lab. Now Questions.

[Wulfman...]

Call the lab and ask for a copy of the results of your sleep test. It is yours by law and they have to give it to you. We all have ours.

This depends on the State's laws. In some circumstances the lab has a right not to give you your medical records. For example if you could harm yourself or someone else because of it.

NO and WRONG! They come under FEDERAL HIPAA laws and the patient has the right to have/obtain them. (may need to be from the doctor, but the "RIGHT" to have them is there)

http://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individual ... consumers/


Den

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[LSAT]

avi is not of this world...laws are different on his planet

[avi123]

Den, what if I show you that you are wrong and in some situations your medical report can be denied to be given to YOU (personally, ok to someone else)? If I am correct will you commit to donate $500 to Physicians Without Borders?

[Julie]

Avi - you need help, please call your doctor. I'm serious... worked in teaching hospitals my whole life and what you've said is wrong, not horrible, not criminal, but wrong, and it's confusing to newbies and the rest here. Stick to questions about your own health.

You may have read of a case where something was different from some legal point of view - some exception - but that's all it could have been. Patient's records belong to them (or at least copies of the records) by law. Period.

[Wulfman...]

Den, what if I show you that you are wrong and in some situations your medical report can be denied to be given to YOU (personally, ok to someone else)? If I am correct will you commit to donate $500 to Physicians Without Borders?

By all means, show us the "proof".
But, I won't donate any money to anybody (except Trump).


Den

.

[avi123]

Den, from the New York state HIPPA described above:

Q. Are there any parts of my medical record to which my physician can deny me access

A. Yes. A physician can deny you access to the following:

•Personal notes and observations.
•Information disclosed to the practitioner under the condition that it would be kept confidential.
•Information that the practitioner believes should not be disclosed regarding the treatment of a minor. A patient over age 12 may be advised of a records request and, if he or she objects, the provider may deny the request.

•Information the physician believes may cause substantial harm to the patient or others.


+This is why sleep clinic's owners refuse to provide results to individual patients but only to MDs. Why should those owners get involved with each patient if they can do without it?

•Information obtained from other physicians who are still in practice. That information should be requested directly from those practitioners.
•Substance abuse program records and clinical records of facilities licensed or operated by the Office of Mental Health. Mental Hygiene Law provides a separate process for release of these records.

[Lucyhere]

Den, what if I show you that you are wrong and in some situations your medical report can be denied to be given to YOU (personally, ok to someone else)? If I am correct will you commit to donate $500 to Physicians Without Borders?

By all means, show us the "proof".
But, I won't donate any money to anybody (except Trump).


Den

.

[Julie]

Avi - in any situation the doctor is the only prof. allowed to give you results of any test, exam, etc. Not the techs, not the receptionists, not anyone else. By law they have to pass results to the doctor and he/she will then pass them on to the patient. That's across the board. If techs, etc. give you results they could/should lose their jobs. Of course doctors are allowed to keep personal observations, notes, etc. - their 'work product', how they came to their conclusions, etc. - to themselves because it's not necessary for the patient to have all that... what is necessary is a complete 'result', report, etc. of the patient's condition or future treatment plan so the patient has access to what has been found, and what is expected in future. Why not ask your own doctor for an explanation?

[Wulfman...]

Den, from the New York state HIPPA described above:

Q. Are there any parts of my medical record to which my physician can deny me access

A. Yes. A physician can deny you access to the following:

•Personal notes and observations.
•Information disclosed to the practitioner under the condition that it would be kept confidential.
•Information that the practitioner believes should not be disclosed regarding the treatment of a minor. A patient over age 12 may be advised of a records request and, if he or she objects, the provider may deny the request.

•Information the physician believes may cause substantial harm to the patient or others.


+This is why sleep clinic's owners refuse to provide results to individual patients but only to MDs. Why should those owners get involved with each patient if they can do without it?

•Information obtained from other physicians who are still in practice. That information should be requested directly from those practitioners.
•Substance abuse program records and clinical records of facilities licensed or operated by the Office of Mental Health. Mental Hygiene Law provides a separate process for release of these records.

I don't see a link and it looks like it came from a "Dear Abby" column.
Probably wouldn't hold up in court if the DOCTOR was denying the release of the patient's information. Of course, as I indicated previously that the doctor needs to order the release of the information and not any clinic staff or sleep labs, etc.

So, interpreting your colored highlighted sentence........
If the doctor would write in his notes......."This patient is NUTS!!!"......might have an adverse affect on the patient?


Den

.

[rick blaine]

Hi TalonGreyWolf,

The Greeks say apnoia - breathless.

The English say apnoea - a cessation of breath, especially during sleep.

Americans say apnea - meaning the same thing.

There's a tendency in medicine and other specialisms to use two words where one would do - they say it's to remove all ambiguity.

So sleep gets added to apnea - which, if you think about it, is saying 'sleep cessation of breath, especially during sleep'.

If it's caused by an obstruction, it becomes obstructive sleep apnea. You can see how it goes, right?

Hypo is a word doctors use for 'less of'. So they have hyper-tension for 'more of tension' (or 'high blood pressure') and hypo-tension for 'less of tension' (or 'low blood pressure').

So hypo-(a)pnea is 'less of apnea' - but still enough of a reduction of airflow to be a problem.

To put some numbers to it, an obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep event where the airway is reduced by 90 per cent (of fully open) or more - and which lasts for 10 seconds or more.

An hypo-pnea is a sleep event where the airway is reduced to 50 per cent (of fully open) - and which lasts for 10 seconds or more.

And both kinds can last a lot more - 20 seconds, 30 seconds is not unusual. One of mine - recorded before I started treatment - lasted nearly two minutes.

Both kinds of sleep event are bad for you. The percentage (or 'saturation level') of oxygen in your blood goes down.

That's bad enough on its own. But as the O2 level drops down, the survival part of the brain fires up - gets you gasping for breath - to end the apnea or hypo-pnea.

And while that burst of adrenalin and gasp for breath may not wake a person all the way up, it sure wrecks their sleep. If you have enough events per hour - even if they're all hypo-pneas and not any other kind - then you're not really getting proper rest.

And 'enough events' (as defined by doctors) goes like this:

0 to 5 (per hour) is considered 'normal'.
6 to 15 (per hour) is called 'mild to moderate'.
16 to 30 (per hour) is called 'moderate to severe'.
30 and above (per hour) is severe.

Why do you feel 'stunned'? I can't say. But I can say this kind of sleep disorder is quite common. Where I live, one in 25 men over the age of 40 have it (although it may not be diagnosed), and one in 50 women over the age of 40 have it (ditto).

Thirty-five years ago, if you did have it, tough. There was no treatment.

Now there is.

[palerider]

The English say apnoea - a cessation of breath, especially during sleep.

that's because they love to throw in extra letters in words to confuse people.

recent example, olympic diving medalist Jack Laugher, pronounced, by bbc commentators,

Jack LAW

[jnk...]

. . . ~~~ "Patient had difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep. Patient demonstrated hypopnea and mild snoring. ~~~ ". . .
1. What is hypopnea?
2. How is related to sleep apnea?
3. Why do I feel stunned to have hypopnea?
4. Am i even in the right place to ask these question?

Thanks in advance

Tech was saying you found it difficult to fall asleep and then to stay asleep.

A hypopnea is a certain change in breathing that can have an effect on the quality of your sleep if there are too many of them.

There is no need to feel stunned. Every human being on the planet has hypopneas, depending on how they are measured. What the tech seems to be saying is good in that apparently you didn't have a significant amount of obstructive apneas, which are generally worse than hypopneas. All that those words really mean is that if you have a certain amount of apneas and hypopneas, you qualify, or earn the right, to try PAP to see if that makes you feel better or improves anything. No one breathes perfectly at night, so don't be discouraged by the technical use of those words.

You are not only in the right place to ask such questions--you are in the BEST place that there is to do so.

Welcome. Keep asking questions. This forum is here to help you.

[Wulfman...]

Den, what if I show you that you are wrong and in some situations your medical report can be denied to be given to YOU (personally, ok to someone else)? If I am correct will you commit to donate $500 to Physicians Without Borders?

It's actually....... "Doctors Without Borders".

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

And, according to something I read in the local paper some years back, my "sleep doctor" (pulmonologist) spent some time with them. Another "negative".


Den

.

[palerider]

It's actually....... "Doctors Without Borders".

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/

And, according to something I read in the local paper some years back, my "sleep doctor" (pulmonologist) spent some time with them. Another "negative".

do you hate everything that makes humanity better?

[TalonGreyWolf]

Hi TalonGreyWolf,

The Greeks say apnoia - breathless.

The English say apnoea - a cessation of breath, especially during sleep.

Americans say apnea - meaning the same thing.

There's a tendency in medicine and other specialisms to use two words where one would do - they say it's to remove all ambiguity.

So sleep gets added to apnea - which, if you think about it, is saying 'sleep cessation of breath, especially during sleep'.

If it's caused by an obstruction, it becomes obstructive sleep apnea. You can see how it goes, right?

Hypo is a word doctors use for 'less of'. So they have hyper-tension for 'more of tension' (or 'high blood pressure') and hypo-tension for 'less of tension' (or 'low blood pressure').

So hypo-(a)pnea is 'less of apnea' - but still enough of a reduction of airflow to be a problem.

To put some numbers to it, an obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep event where the airway is reduced by 90 per cent (of fully open) or more - and which lasts for 10 seconds or more.

An hypo-pnea is a sleep event where the airway is reduced to 50 per cent (of fully open) - and which lasts for 10 seconds or more.

And both kinds can last a lot more - 20 seconds, 30 seconds is not unusual. One of mine - recorded before I started treatment - lasted nearly two minutes.

Both kinds of sleep event are bad for you. The percentage (or 'saturation level') of oxygen in your blood goes down.

That's bad enough on its own. But as the O2 level drops down, the survival part of the brain fires up - gets you gasping for breath - to end the apnea or hypo-pnea.

And while that burst of adrenalin and gasp for breath may not wake a person all the way up, it sure wrecks their sleep. If you have enough events per hour - even if they're all hypo-pneas and not any other kind - then you're not really getting proper rest.

And 'enough events' (as defined by doctors) goes like this:

0 to 5 (per hour) is considered 'normal'.
6 to 15 (per hour) is called 'mild to moderate'.
16 to 30 (per hour) is called 'moderate to severe'.
30 and above (per hour) is severe.

Why do you feel 'stunned'? I can't say. But I can say this kind of sleep disorder is quite common. Where I live, one in 25 men over the age of 40 have it (although it may not be diagnosed), and one in 50 women over the age of 40 have it (ditto).

Thirty-five years ago, if you did have it, tough. There was no treatment.

Now there is.

Thank you!

That information is what I needed. A breakdown of the words and the numbers (in this case: events) Then when I see my sleep doctor, I can understand more of what is in the report. And in the meantime, I feel better with what is known than unknown.

As for the 'stunned', I thought my sleeping was weak due to my mind wandering everywhere. (i.e. life) It never occurred to me that my breathing or lack of breathing well while I slept would be a reason I feel tired all the time. Why I have a sore throat every morning. Or why the 'morning head fog' seems never to lift. You get my drift. It wasn't until my daughter said something to me in June about my gasping for air during the several time that it struck me something is not right with my sleep.

My sleep has been reduced in quality for at least eleven years if not longer. I attributed it to this or that. Even if hypopnea is only a part of the reason, it helps.