Lifeline Center for Sleep Disorders

03/24/2025

Lifeline Sleep Centers is currently hiring for sleep tech positions in our Washington PA and Monroeville PA locations.
We will train for the position. Applicants need computer skills and willingness to learn. Medical background a plus, not required.
Send resume to anna@lifelinecenters.com
Interested parties with no experience are welcome to shadow a tech next week.
Sleep tech performs tests and collects data on patients with sleep disorders. Hours are 8pm-6am. Weekends will be required.
Sleep technicians are responsible for giving patients explanations of the impending sleep tests and procedures, preparing equipment for the procedures, recording activities and analyzing results - Sleep technicians need some polysomnographic training (which we provide) as well as basic medical certifications, such as CPR.

Sleep Disorder Center with locations throughout Western PA.

03/24/2025

Want to train to be a sleep technician? We are hiring for our Washington and Monroeville PA locations. No experience needed. We will train you! Shifts are 8pm-6am. Must be able to work weekends as needed. Text 304-670-6877 or send resume to anna@lifelinecenters.com

07/04/2023

07/03/2023

Sleep apnea is a condition that can severely disrupt your life, and it increases your risk of several conditions that are life-threatening medical emergencies. Even if it doesn’t cause these dangerous complications, people with sleep apnea can’t get restful sleep, so they constantly feel tired. In the worst cases, this condition can make them so tired that they may fall asleep during the day, leading to accidents or causing problems with work, hobbies, social activities, etc.

07/03/2023

Sleep apnea is a dangerous condition because it can cause several different complications, many of which are severe or life-threatening. These include:

*Heart damage and heart failure. Sleep apnea causes an increase in pressure in the blood vessels around your heart and on some of the chambers of your heart itself. That pressure increase puts a strain on your heart, ultimately causing damage to the heart muscle itself.
*Arrhythmias, especially atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is a dangerous arrhythmia because it disrupts how blood flows through the upper left chamber of your heart. That disruption causes blood to pool and linger for too long. That can cause blood clots, which can then exit your heart and travel directly to your brain, causing a STROKE.
*Sudden cardiac death. Some arrhythmias that can happen with sleep apnea are especially severe and can stop your heart. That stoppage is a life-threatening condition known as sudden cardiac death.
*Daytime drowsiness. While feeling sleepy during the daytime may not seem dangerous, it can be hazardous depending on what you’re doing. If you fall asleep while driving or operating dangerous machinery, that can have deadly implications for you or others around you.

07/02/2023

Sleep apnea is sometimes preventable, especially in cases where it happens because a person has excess weight or obesity. Still, some people maintain a healthy body weight or are underweight and still develop sleep apnea. For those individuals, a structural issue is usually the cause of their apnea, so they can’t prevent it.

The best things you can do to reduce your risk of sleep apnea include:

*Reach and maintain a healthy weight.
*Practice good sleep hygiene.
*Manage any existing health conditions, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes.
*See your healthcare provider at least once a year for a checkup.

07/01/2023

There are many approaches to treating sleep apnea, depending on the specific type of sleep apnea and how severe it is. While none of these is a cure, they can help prevent apnea events or reduce how often they happen or how severe they are. CPAP is the most effective therapy, there are many different options of masks.

07/01/2023

What tests will be done to diagnose sleep apnea?
The most common tests for sleep apnea include:

Overnight sleep study (polysomnogram). This is an overnight test where you sleep at the sleep lab. It is specially equipped to be as comfortable as possible while still monitoring your sleep. This test involves sensors that monitor your heart rate, breathing, blood oxygen levels, brain waves and more. Experts consider this test the gold standard for diagnosing sleep apnea. This monitors all your stages of sleep, your EKG, restless leg, different types of apneas any stages of sleep you don't get and more!

Home sleep apnea testing. This form of testing allows a person to complete a sleep study from home. It’s similar to an overnight sleep study, but doesn't involve brain wave monitoring. This test can’t diagnose central sleep apnea, and it’s usually not an option when providers suspect more severe sleep apnea, or if you have other sleep disorders or medical conditions. Often, when a home study doesn’t show sleep apnea, experts recommend confirming this with an overnight sleep study due to it only monitoring your breathing and oxygen level. Since it doesn't monitor your stages of sleep it it is not as reliable as the in lab. Also, it can need repeated since there isn't a technician there to monitor for equipment error or a sensor coming off.

06/30/2023

Sleep apnea has many symptoms, some of which are easier to spot than others. The symptoms include:

*Feeling tired or even exhausted when waking up. Even after a full night’s sleep, people with sleep apnea commonly feel extremely tired.
*Daytime sleepiness.
*Snoring. This is a common feature with sleep apnea (but it isn’t something that happens in all cases). You can also have sleep apnea without snoring at all.
*Mood changes. Depression and anxiety are common symptoms of sleep apnea.
*Disruptions in brain function. These can include memory loss, trouble concentrating or other brain-related issues.
*Waking up repeatedly in the middle of the night. This symptom might be harder to notice because people usually don’t remember waking up or why they woke up. People who do this often remember waking up for another reason, like heartburn or needing to go to the bathroom.
*Pauses in breathing while asleep that others witness.
*Unusual breathing patterns.
*Insomnia.
*Night sweats and feeling restless at night.
*Sexual dysfunction.
*Waking up feeling short of breath or like you’re choking.
Headaches, especially when waking up.

06/30/2023

Diagnosing sleep apnea usually involves a healthcare provider asking questions about your symptoms and history. If they suspect sleep apnea based on your symptoms and answers, they’ll likely want you to undergo testing for sleep apnea.

06/29/2023

Positive airway pressure is a method that uses a specialized device to increase the air pressure inside of your airway while you inhale. This method can treat obstructive, central and mixed sleep apneas.

Pushing pressurized air down your windpipe keeps it open so you can breathe. These devices push air through a hose that attaches to a special mask you wear on your face while you sleep. Masks can cover your nose, mouth or both, and there are many different types and styles to choose from.

The best-known PAP device is the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine. However, there are other types of PAP machines, too. The type you need will be decided on your therapeutic night. These devices increase the air pressure inside of your airway and lungs when you inhale, keeping surrounding tissue from pressing your airway shut.

06/29/2023

Stage 1: Light sleep. This is a short stage that begins right after you fall asleep. It accounts for about 5% of your total sleep time.

Stage 2: Deeper sleep. This stage is deeper and makes up about 45% to 50% of all the time you spend sleeping (this number goes up as you get older).

Stage 3: Slow wave sleep. This is the deepest sleep stage, making up about 25% of the time you spend sleeping (this number goes down with age). It’s very hard to wake someone up in stage 3 sleep, and waking up directly from it usually causes “sleep inertia,” a state of “mental fog” and slowed thinking. Parasomnias like sleepwalking and sleeptalking happen in this stage.

REM sleep: REM stands for “rapid eye movement.” This stage is when you dream. When a person is in REM sleep, you can see their eyes moving beneath their eyelids.

When you fall asleep, you typically enter Stage 1, and then move into and cycle between Stages 2 and 3. After cycling between those stages, you’ll ultimately go into REM sleep and start dreaming. After the first REM cycle, you start a new cycle and go back into Stage 1 or 2. One cycle normally takes about 90 to 110 minutes before another begins. Most people go through four or five cycles per night (assuming they get a full eight hours of sleep).