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Sleep problems can now be solved at home

The Alfred Hospital is testing a portable sleep device that could help more people—including shift workers and those in the transport industry—be tested for sleep problems.

Sleep experts are currently testing the portable ‘greyflash’ device at the request of VicRoads to see if it stands up to the rigors required to identify sleep-disordered breathing problems.

Head of The Alfred’s Sleep Medicine Service Professor Matthew Naughton said the burden of sleep apnoea was greater than the current availability of sleep monitoring facilities in Australian hospitals.

Portable devices also offered greater accessibility to diagnoses and treatment options.

Professor Naughton said the ‘greyflash’ device—a small pack to be strapped around the body and an attachment for the finger and nose—could be taken home.

Specialists could download a range of important information about a patient including their blood oxygen levels and body position during sleep. 

The need for greater accessibility to identify people in the community with sleep-disordered breathing follows the recent release of a major US study demonstrating the link between sleep-disordered breathing and increased risk of death in men aged 40 to 70.

The Sleep Heart Health Study led by John Hopkins University examined more than 6,400 men and women.

While the association between sleep problems and women was not clear the risk of death for men—specifically as a result of coronary artery disease—was.

It also showed sleep problems were associated with hypertension, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure and stroke and had been implicated as a risk factor for insulin resistance and type two diabetes. Alfred Hospital Sleep Medicine Service’s Professor Matthew Naughton and Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine Home Monitoring Coordinator Sally Ho discuss the portable ‘greyflash’ device.