Can a General Physician Treat Sleep Apnea, or Do You Need a Specialist?

Most people with sleep apnea first mention symptoms like snoring to their family doctor. A GP can assess symptoms and identify possible warning signs. However, confirming the diagnosis, assessing its severity, and choosing between CPAP and other treatments usually requires a sleep specialist.

According to Dr. Sharada Panse, Sleep Specialist in Mumbai, “Family doctors are often the first to notice the signs, like blood pressure that won’t settle or tiredness that never lifts. That matters. A specialist adds the right test to confirm the diagnosis and a treatment the patient can actually keep using.”

Quite a lot, up to a point. The GP will ask about snoring, tiredness and whether anyone has seen you stop breathing in your sleep, and will check your weight, neck size and blood pressure. In a mild case the advice is fairly simple: lose a little weight, skip the late drink, avoid sleeping tablets, sleep on your side and get a blocked nose treated. Then review how you’re doing.

If the picture looks more concerning  than that, your GP can arrange  a sleep test or refer you onwards. They’ll also keep an eye on blood pressure and sugar levels, both of which sleep apnea tends to push up.

Think about seeing one if:

• The symptoms are obvious, yet the test you had came back normal.
• You aren’t sure which test suits you. A home study has fewer sensors and no brain monitoring, so complicated cases are better served by a lab-based sleep study.
• If sleep apnoea is moderate or severe, CPAP treatment, BiPAP or an oral device is usually recommended. The pressure settings also need to be adjusted correctly .
• You also have heart or lung disease, or the problem is central sleep apnea, which occurs when the brain’s control of breathing is disrupted, rather than due to an airway obstruction.
• You’ve started treatment but can’t cope with the mask, or you’re still sleepy through the day.

Snoring alone doesn’t always mean sleep apnea. This post looks at when snoring needs a sleep specialist.

Snore a little and feel fine in the day? Your family doctor will do. Fall asleep at traffic signals, wake up choking, or have blood pressure that stays high despite tablets? Go to a specialist rather than waiting.

If you’re choosing one, this guide on what to look for in a sleep specialist is a useful read. And don’t sit on it for years. Untreated sleep apnea slowly wears on the heart and blood sugar.

• Your GP can screen for sleep apnea and look after mild cases.
• Unclear results, moderate or severe disease, or other medical conditions are better handled by a sleep specialist.
• Only a sleep study confirms the diagnosis.
• Loud snoring with daytime sleepiness or high blood pressure shouldn’t be brushed off.

References

American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM): Clinical Practice Guideline for Diagnostic Testing for Adult Obstructive Sleep Apnea 

 National Health Service (NHS): Sleep Apnoea 

Disclaimer:This blog is for educational purposes only.