Is This True?

WearyOne wrote:.

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.

Hi WearyOne!

This is a guess from an older probably more beat up old guy. I think that "stubbornness" you note is more denial born out of fear. And, perhaps, a bit of instinct.

It is hard to admit you might be sick. In the case of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, the whole thing carries a lot of negatives, professionally, socially, in many ways.

And frankly we have no good way to treat it yet. While I do believe that 80 or so percent of people could use PAP full time if it were properly administered - the current numbers are simply a medical tragedy. Currently only twenty percent of those medically commended to positive airway pressure devices are able to use them more than four hours per night at one year. I am pondering whether I should even recommend it any more.

Well there is lots of good stuff showing up in this silly thread I started which may even help us get to where we can treat OSA.

Thank you very much for your post!

Todzo

kaiasgram wrote: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.

Todzo wrote: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

Hi kaiasgram!

I have several Google Alerts going daily - five of which look at Sleep Apnea related issues of which three yield daily fruit. This is simply one link that caught my eye:

http://untoldnews.org/a-sleep-lab-you-w ... our-wrist/

I have looked into the WatchPAT before as I really do want to find a good way to really see arousals and awakenings every night. I looked into the cost several years ago - well - $6000.00 is out of budget for me. Since then I have come to think that the pulse oximeter perfusion values might do about the same thing. Who knows, perhaps I will get into the OpenEEG project and work to eliminate the wires (which is very possible) and develop and easy to use "cap". Actual brain waves would be awesome!

Anyway that is where the quote came from.

Have a great weekend!

Todzo

Todzo wrote:Hi kaiasgram!
I have looked into the WatchPAT before as I really do want to find a good way to really see arousals and awakenings every night. I looked into the cost several years ago - well - $6000.00 is out of budget for me. Since then I have come to think that the pulse oximeter perfusion values might do about the same thing. Who knows, perhaps I will get into the OpenEEG project and work to eliminate the wires (which is very possible) and develop and easy to use "cap". Actual brain waves would be awesome!
Anyway that is where the quote came from.
Have a great weekend! Todzo

Hi Todzo,
Sooo, that quote about women being unwilling to go to a sleep study was a comment made by the president and CEO of the company that owns the Watch-PAT, a home testing device that is being used by some medical establishments including Kaiser Permanente to diagnose sleep apnea. Now his comment about women's resistance to sleep studies makes sense -- it's a sales pitch. I'm not surprised Todzo that you found it a rather curious comment!

kaiasgram wrote:

Todzo wrote:Hi kaiasgram!
I have looked into the WatchPAT before as I really do want to find a good way to really see arousals and awakenings every night. I looked into the cost several years ago - well - $6000.00 is out of budget for me. Since then I have come to think that the pulse oximeter perfusion values might do about the same thing. Who knows, perhaps I will get into the OpenEEG project and work to eliminate the wires (which is very possible) and develop and easy to use "cap". Actual brain waves would be awesome!
Anyway that is where the quote came from.
Have a great weekend! Todzo

Hi Todzo,
Sooo, that quote about women being unwilling to go to a sleep study was a comment made by the president and CEO of the company that owns the Watch-PAT, a home testing device that is being used by some medical establishments including Kaiser Permanente to diagnose sleep apnea. Now his comment about women's resistance to sleep studies makes sense -- it's a sales pitch. I'm not surprised Todzo that you found it a rather curious comment!

Hi again kaiasgram!

Yes, I simply wanted to know. Anymore my trust of CEOs – especially in sales mode - is limited.

Kaiser's use of the WatchPAT looks to me to be potential leadership. It is an in home test. It is looking at arousals. Once you own one, well, the cost thing for the corporation is great compared to lab costs. Kaiser, in an age where our medical community misses OSA at least 8 out of 10 times is indeed aware of the issue and doing something for their people! I hope they keep doing it and do better at it!

OSA is simply taking a giant chomp out of us. Our relationships, our economy, our health care system, simply everything. I hope we find our way.

Thanks for the reply!

Todzo

Todzo wrote:Hi again kaiasgram!
Yes, I simply wanted to know. Anymore my trust of CEOs – especially in sales mode - is limited.
Kaiser's use of the WatchPAT looks to me to be potential leadership. It is an in home test. It is looking at arousals. Once you own one, well, the cost thing for the corporation is great compared to lab costs. Kaiser, in an age where our medical community misses OSA at least 8 out of 10 times is indeed aware of the issue and doing something for their people! I hope they keep doing it and do better at it!
OSA is simply taking a giant chomp out of us. Our relationships, our economy, our health care system, simply everything. I hope we find our way.
Thanks for the reply!
Todzo

Hello again back Todzo -- I have a slightly different perspective on Kaiser's use of the Watch-PAT, but that's for another thread -- don't want to hijack yours.

kaiasgram wrote: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.

Todzo wrote: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.”

Todzo

That really does sound like a nonsensical theory someone imagined without doing any research or polling. I think the major resistance is the fear of a positive diagnosis, ending up having to sleep with a mask and a machine. At least I think most men, myself included, felt that way.

Plus I agree that men are much more resistant to medical care than women.

Nate

i have to be honest, the idea of sleeping in a weird lab with people watching me did freak me out. probably part of the reason i slept so little. driving at night to a place i've never been, then sleeping in a room with no lock on the door was weird. thankfully both times i was there the techs were women and that put me at ease a bit. the first time i was there i noticed three men came in for studies at the same time as me and i admit that made me feel weird. the second time was right after the hurricane and i was the only patient there. i did tell my husband the address and phone number for the lab because i generally want someone i trust to know my whereabouts. i almost didn't even go to my first sleep study... i postponed it three times because i didn't believe there was any way i had OSA and i was weirded out. thank goodness i went because i was diagnosed with severe OSA and cpap has been wonderful for me quality of life so far.

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

Yeah, I fell asleep at a meeting at work. To be fair, it WAS pretty boring.
But what made me laugh was the "other motorists".

I can't speak for others, but if Kaiser didn't have home testing with the Watch Pat I'd still be untested. No way I was going to let anybody paste wires on my body and then try to sleep in a strange bed while being watched. No way!

How about us men? Having another man watching us sleep?

I believe women are more likely to see doctors for any reason, as so many of us have depended on them for maternity care.
We know the history of primitive (or no) obstetric care has resulted in so much tragedy in centuries past.

I had known for years that I had sleeap apnea. I had several excuses for not doing the sleep study.

1) I thought it was just sleep deprivation from waking up a lot. I already had sleep deprivation from lack of hours in bed. So, I thought it was just the same thing. I didn't think it affected any other part of my health.

2) I am a night owl. My mom had to go to her sleep study at 8pm and was basically kicked out at 6am. I saw no point in that since I normally go to sleep between 4 and 6am. It seemed like a waste of time.

3). I thought cpap only had nasal masks, and I am a mouth breather. I didn't see how I could possibly sleep with a nasal mask.

Once I learned that my high blood pressure was probably caused by my sleep apnea, I decided I should confess and get tested. The pharmacy clerk told me I could ask the doctor for sleep medicine to help me sleep at the study. And the sleep tech fitted me with a full face mask. They also let me sleep until 8am. Still early for me, but not as crazy as I expected.

It all worked out great.

I do admit that I expected to be in a room with a window and somebody watching me. I went into this thinking it would be pretty creepy. But it was a totally closed room with a camera. So, not so obvious about being watched. And the tech told me to speak if I needed anything. Don't wave as she doesn't watch all the time. I felt a lot more comfortable than I expected to.