Sleep Medicine

Many people underestimate the importance of good quality and quantity of sleep. While occasional sleepless nights may cause minor symptoms, persistent sleep deprivation can lead to more serious complications such as headache, mood swings, difficulty with concentration, increased risk of heart attack and arrhythmia, uncontrolled hypertension, increased risk of stroke and dementia, hormonal imbalance leading to weight gain, decreased libido and sexual dysfunction, and others. Sleep disorders can affect adults and children.

Advanced Medical Care evaluates and treats a range of conditions that can affect sleep quality, nighttime breathing, daytime alertness, and your normal sleep-wake cycle. Your treatment plan will be based on your symptoms, medical history, diagnostic results, and individual needs.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the upper airway repeatedly becomes narrowed or blocked during sleep, interrupting normal breathing. Common signs include loud snoring, gasping or choking during sleep, pauses in breathing noticed by another person, morning headaches, dry mouth, and excessive daytime sleepiness.

Untreated sleep apnea can affect concentration, mood, blood pressure, cardiovascular health, and overall well-being. Evaluation may include an overnight sleep study. Depending on your results, treatment may include continuous positive airway pressure therapy, an oral appliance, lifestyle changes, or other appropriate interventions.

Insomnia

Insomnia can make it difficult to fall asleep, remain asleep, or obtain refreshing sleep even when you have enough time and opportunity to rest. It may be short-term or persistent and can contribute to fatigue, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and reduced performance during the day.

Our sleep medicine doctors will review your sleep schedule, nighttime habits, medications, health history, and possible contributing conditions. Treatment may include sleep-hygiene education, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, medication when appropriate, and treatment of an underlying medical or sleep disorder.

Excessive Daytime Sleepiness, Narcolepsy & Hypersomnia

Feeling persistently sleepy during the day despite spending adequate time in bed may be a sign of an underlying sleep disorder. Some people struggle to remain alert at work, during conversations, while reading, or while driving. Others may experience sudden urges to sleep or have great difficulty waking up.

Advanced Medical Care can evaluate possible causes of excessive daytime sleepiness, including sleep apnea, narcolepsy, hypersomnia, medication effects, insufficient sleep, and other medical conditions. Testing such as an overnight sleep study and Multiple Sleep Latency Test may be recommended.

Restless Legs Syndrome & Periodic Limb Movements

Restless legs syndrome can cause uncomfortable sensations in the legs and a strong urge to move them, particularly while resting or trying to fall asleep. Periodic limb movements involve repetitive leg or arm movements during sleep that may cause brief awakenings and fragmented rest.

A sleep medicine evaluation can help identify possible contributing factors and determine whether additional testing or treatment is appropriate.

Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders

Your circadian rhythm is the internal system that helps regulate when you feel awake and when you become sleepy. Shift work, irregular schedules, travel, or changes in the timing of your internal clock can make it difficult to sleep and wake at the desired times.

Treatment may involve carefully timed sleep schedules, changes in daily habits, light exposure, medication, or other strategies intended to help realign your sleep-wake cycle.

Parasomnias

Parasomnias are unusual movements, behaviors, experiences, or emotions that occur while falling asleep, during sleep, or while waking. Examples may include sleepwalking, sleep talking, night terrors, acting out dreams, or eating during sleep.

Because some nighttime behaviors may resemble seizures or other neurological conditions, a thorough evaluation can help identify what is happening and whether sleep testing is needed.

Sleep Concerns in Children

Sleep disorders can also affect children. Warning signs may include loud snoring, pauses in breathing, restless sleep, difficulty waking, irritability, attention problems, excessive daytime sleepiness, or persistent bedwetting.

Evaluating these symptoms can help determine whether a child may have sleep apnea or another condition that is interfering with healthy, restorative sleep.

Advanced Medical Care offers comprehensive diagnostic testing to help determine what is disrupting your sleep or causing excessive daytime sleepiness. Your sleep medicine specialist will recommend testing based on your symptoms, consultation, medical history, and suspected condition.

Sleep studies are performed at our Queens sleep center.

Nocturnal Polysomnography

Nocturnal polysomnography is a comprehensive overnight sleep study. While you sleep, sensors monitor information such as brain activity, eye movements, breathing, oxygen levels, heart rate, and muscle movements.

This study can help identify sleep apnea, abnormal nighttime movements, unusual sleep behaviors, and other conditions that affect sleep quality.

Multiple Sleep Latency Test

A Multiple Sleep Latency Test measures how quickly you fall asleep during several scheduled daytime nap opportunities. It also records information about the stages of sleep you enter.

The test is generally performed after an overnight sleep study and may be used when evaluating persistent daytime sleepiness, narcolepsy, or hypersomnia.

CPAP Titration Study

A continuous positive airway pressure titration study helps determine the appropriate air-pressure setting for a patient who needs positive airway pressure therapy.

During the study, the sleep technologist adjusts the pressure delivered through the mask while monitoring breathing, oxygen levels, sleep stages, and other measurements. The goal is to find a setting that keeps the airway open and supports comfortable, consistent breathing.

Split-Night Sleep Study with CPAP Titration

A split-night study combines diagnostic polysomnography and CPAP titration during the same night.

The first portion of the night is used to evaluate your sleep and breathing. When the findings meet the appropriate criteria, CPAP therapy may be introduced during the second portion so the team can begin determining an effective pressure setting.

Positive Airway Pressure Nap Study

A Positive Airway Pressure Nap Study, also called a PAP-NAP, is a daytime session designed to help patients become more comfortable with positive airway pressure therapy.

It may be useful for people who experience anxiety, claustrophobia, difficulty tolerating a mask, or other concerns that make it challenging to begin or consistently use PAP treatment.

Maintenance of Wakefulness Test

A Maintenance of Wakefulness Test measures your ability to remain awake and alert in a quiet environment during the day.

This test may be recommended when your provider needs to assess how well a treatment is controlling excessive sleepiness or determine your ability to maintain wakefulness for safety-sensitive responsibilities.

 

Maria Dolgovina, MD, is a board-certified neurologist with a strong background in sleep medicine. Through her work with the team at Advanced Medical Care in Brighton Beach (Brooklyn) and Forest Hills (Queens), New York, Dr. Dolgovina is honored to play a role in helping patients find lasting relief from their neurological conditions.

Occasional difficulty sleeping can happen to almost anyone. A sleep medicine consultation may be appropriate when sleep problems persist, interfere with daytime functioning, or are accompanied by signs of abnormal nighttime breathing or unusual sleep behavior.

You do not have to wait until poor sleep severely affects your health or daily life. An evaluation can help identify possible causes and determine whether diagnostic testing or treatment is needed.

Symptoms That Should Be Evaluated

Consider scheduling a sleep medicine consultation if you or a family member experiences:

• Loud, frequent, or disruptive snoring
• Pauses in breathing during sleep
• Gasping, choking, or struggling to breathe at night
• Persistent difficulty falling asleep
• Frequent awakenings or difficulty returning to sleep
• Waking much earlier than intended
• Excessive daytime sleepiness or unintended naps
• Morning headaches or dry mouth
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or remaining productive
• Irritability, mood changes, or low daytime energy
• Uncomfortable leg sensations or a strong urge to move the legs
• Repetitive kicking or limb movements during sleep
• Sleepwalking, night terrors, or acting out dreams
• Difficulty sleeping because of shift work or an irregular schedule
• Persistent bedwetting, snoring, restless sleep, or attention problems in a child

Severe daytime sleepiness can create a safety risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment when you are struggling to remain awake.

Experienced sleep medicine care — Advanced Medical Care provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment for sleep disorders, with care focused on identifying the underlying cause of your symptoms and improving both nighttime rest and daytime functioning.

Advanced sleep testing at our Queens sleep center — Patients have access to diagnostic services including nocturnal polysomnography, Multiple Sleep Latency Testing, CPAP titration, split-night studies, PAP-NAP testing, and Maintenance of Wakefulness Testing.

Personalized treatment plans — Recommendations are tailored to your diagnosis, symptoms, medical history, test results, daily schedule, and treatment goals.

Two convenient locations in Queens and Brooklyn — Consultations are available at our Forest Hills, Queens, and Brighton Beach, Brooklyn offices, making specialized sleep medicine care more accessible to patients throughout the surrounding communities.

Multispecialty support when needed — Sleep problems may overlap with neurological and cardiovascular conditions. Because Advanced Medical Care offers sleep medicine, neurology, cardiology, and physical therapy services, our team can help coordinate broader care when appropriate.

Contact our offices in Forest Hills or Brighton Beach to discuss symptoms and book a consultation. We accept most insurances and guide you through the process for convenient sleep disorder diagnostics.