To sleep, or not to sleep – that is the question, for polysomnography (Free full text from Breathe)

As the English dramatist Thomas Dekker wrote, “Sleep is that golden chain that ties health and our bodies together”. One of the most frequently sleep-related disorders (SRD) is obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). OSAS is a relatively “young” disease and at the same time, one of the most important respiratory conditions discovered in the last 50 years due to its incidence, prevalence, health-related impact on the patient’s life and economic burden.

Nevertheless, 50 years is still a large amount of time and our understanding of OSAS has grown significantly over these years. The first reports discussed how to diagnose this rare condition. Later, it was demonstrated that the disease itself is not that rare and is extremely underdiagnosed. This was only the tip of the iceberg, since it was furthermore discovered that OSAS is linked to multiple comorbidities and is a major healthcare problem. Now, we are moving further forward, and discussing more efficient ways to diagnose and manage this condition.

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http://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/13/2/137