Is This True?

[Todzo]

Hi all!

Read this on an internet news/promotion site concerning an OSA diagnosis tool:

“First, half the population is never going to set foot in a sleep lab. Whether it’s right or wrong, there has historically been major resistance on the part of women to putting themselves in a position where strangers with cameras are going to watch them sleep, and frankly I don’t blame them.”

Well I know that undertreated OSA in ladies is in the news these days. I also know that there are many good ladies who contribute here. So ladies, how true would you think the statement to be?

Thanks!

Todzo

[dlynn]

I could care less if a stranger watches me sleep.

[shaunas]

I had to beg for a sleep study. I knew I had problems. My sleep tech was a young man but was totally professional when "hooking" me up. It didn't bother me at all that he watched me sleep. I will also admit I am a very private, old fashioned person. All I was interested in was getting a machine.

[BlackSpinner]

That is so silly. Most women who are over 20 have had any number of men watch them sleep.

Most women get turned away by their doctors because they are not fat old men - the OSA stereotype of a decade ago.

[Todzo]

That is so silly. Most women who are over 20 have had any number of men watch them sleep.

Most women get turned away by their doctors because they are not fat old men - the OSA stereotype of a decade ago.

Hi BlackSpinner!

I think you really have put this in perspective.

Thanks!

Todzo

[chunkyfrog]

Too many ladies with apnea have already had men see us sleep:
co-workers, employers, family, other motorists, etc.

[MidnightOwl]

Hi all!

Read this on an internet news/promotion site concerning an OSA diagnosis tool:

“First, half the population is never going to set foot in a sleep lab. Whether it’s right or wrong, there has historically been major resistance on the part of women to putting themselves in a position where strangers with cameras are going to watch them sleep, and frankly I don’t blame them.”

Well I know that undertreated OSA in ladies is in the news these days. I also know that there are many good ladies who contribute here. So ladies, how true would you think the statement to be?

Thanks!

Todzo

The problem with asking that question here is that posters here almost by definition were willing to have sleep studies. (Home testing is fairly recent and self titration rare). So of course we'll all say it's not a problem. Actually it was a problem for me - but not so big a problem that I couldn't force myself to do it. But I'm sure there are people for whom it's a bigger problem. Whether that's sex related i don't know.

[Todzo]

Hi all!

Read this on an internet news/promotion site concerning an OSA diagnosis tool:

“First, half the population is never going to set foot in a sleep lab. Whether it’s right or wrong, there has historically been major resistance on the part of women to putting themselves in a position where strangers with cameras are going to watch them sleep, and frankly I don’t blame them.”

Well I know that undertreated OSA in ladies is in the news these days. I also know that there are many good ladies who contribute here. So ladies, how true would you think the statement to be?

Thanks!

Todzo

The problem with asking that question here is that posters here almost by definition were willing to have sleep studies. (Home testing is fairly recent and self titration rare). So of course we'll all say it's not a problem. Actually it was a problem for me - but not so big a problem that I couldn't force myself to do it. But I'm sure there are people for whom it's a bigger problem. Whether that's sex related i don't know.

Hi MidnightOwl!

Very good points! Thank you!

In my case I very much wanted to know what in the world had taken away my ability to work and make my way in the world. That I was in a lab and all - well - I do indeed love science!

At that time I really did not have a home - so I guess in my case the "out of home effect" could not apply.

I do very much believe we need to move the sleep testing - I mean ALL of it - into the home. The technology of this day can do that actually without too much trouble. The problem is that too many "medical professionals" make themselves willfully ignorant of the need to do this.

May we find the strength and power to push past this!!!

Todzo

[hyperlexis]

It may very well be true, conciously or unconsciously. It's more of an academic question. How to help is up to the sleep labs to deal with.

I had my testing done at home. However it was still very difficult to get to sleep without a tranquilizer. The dozens of EEG wires and the airflow sensors up my nose and the camera they set up was all very distracting and I was so anxious, I just laid awake for hours. I only slept about 3 and half hours total. They couldn't even do a split night test titration on me.

The fact is sleep testing is not easy and I'd imagine doing it in a windowless sleep lab 'bedroom' would be even more uncomfortable for some. But until they come up with an easier to use sensor system that is just as accurate, people will be stuck with formal, full sleep tests.

[shaunas]

I definitely agree that all the wires are the problem. The lab and the techs were secondary.

[WearyOne]

.

Medical staff watching me sleep...not a problem for me. And I was very fortunate in that I had no resistance from physicians at all about my getting a sleep study. I do, however, don't like being hooked up. Something about knowing I can't just get up whenever I want to go to the bathroom, that I have to "call" someone to unhook me first...

And as for others I know that should go to a sleep lab and won't....it's men, not women. Not for the reason mentioned in the OP, though; it's just plain stubbornness, I think! As least that's the reason it took two years to get my husband to go and I have brothers and a brother-in-law with the same stubbornness gene.

[kaiasgram]

Seriously? Most of us have been 'observed' while in gynecological stirrups so many times that being watched in our jammies in a bed doesn't even register on the medical invasion of privacy meter!

[BlackSpinner]

Seriously? Most of us have been 'observed' while in gynecological stirrups so many times that being watched in our jammies in a bed doesn't even register on the medical invasion of privacy meter!

Yes that too LOL. I guess I just tuned that out.
Try having baby sometime, guys. There was the doc, the student doc, the anaesthesiologist, several nurses and the first year pre med student trying not to puke.

[Jaylee]

Too many ladies with apnea have already had men see us sleep:
co-workers, employers, family, other motorists, etc.

How true is that? I used to fall asleep in waiting rooms. After parking my car. At every family function I have attended in the past 10 years.

[kaiasgram]

I'm curious Todzo, who was being quoted saying that? Because in general, women are far more likely than men are to seek medical help. The statement sounds more like someone's opinion (speculation) rather than something that came from a study -- or even a casual people-on-the-street poll.

Hi all!

Read this on an internet news/promotion site concerning an OSA diagnosis tool:

“First, half the population is never going to set foot in a sleep lab. Whether it’s right or wrong, there has historically been major resistance on the part of women to putting themselves in a position where strangers with cameras are going to watch them sleep, and frankly I don’t blame them.”

Well I know that undertreated OSA in ladies is in the news these days. I also know that there are many good ladies who contribute here. So ladies, how true would you think the statement to be?

Thanks!

Todzo