From snoring to apnea, sleep studies can help ailing snoozers

Sleep challenges come in all kinds of forms, whether you work an odd shift, snore or struggle with sleep apnea, you may need to see a specialist.

On average, people spend one third of their lives sleeping. So, tossing and turning at night can make sleep miserable and affect waking hours, too.

“Sleep disorders can really impact your life," said Dr. Adnan Pervez, a sleep physician at the Rex Sleep Disorder Center. "They can affect your quality of life, and they can have a big impact on other things like heart disease high blood pressure and the like.”

Pervez said people who struggle with sleep should consider a sleep study, which can tell doctors critical information like, “How do you do when you are sleeping? Whether you are breathing well or not. What is going on with your brain wave? What’s going on with your arms?" Pervez said. "Putting it together can help us diagnose disorders which are really common.”

Sleep studies are simple. Participants come into a lab, get hooked up and go to bed.

When sleepers in a study awake, the results will reveal why they can’t get the rest they need and gives the best solutions.

For instance, patients with sleep apnea might get a recommendation for a C-PAP machine, an easy-to-use device that opens up a person's airway passages.

With the test results, doctors say patients could find solutions that will make it a lot easier to get the rest they need.

An in-lab sleep study costs about $2,400 while an in-home test costs around $600. Almost all insurance companies cover sleep studies.

However, some plans require a home sleep test first before they will cover a test in the sleep lab.