Helping You Sleep Better

Megan M. Ferrell, Sleep Center Medical Assistant

Congratulations to the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center for recently achieving reaccreditation for the maximum of five years from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

An estimated 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder including insomnia, sleep apnea and shift work disorder.

Nonetheless, many of our sleep disorders go undiagnosed, leading the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to declare that insufficient sleep is a “public health epidemic.”

In fact, the CDC notes in 2009 more than one in three Americans reported that they had unintentially fallen asleep during the day at least once in the last month.

If you have – or someone care about has – a sleep problem, the experienced specialists of the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center will work hard to diagnose your disorder and provide advanced treatment, whether you have sleep apnea, narcolepsy, restless legs syndrome, insomnia or the like.

Established in 1978, the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center was the first such program in the Philadelphia area.

Because sleep disorders aren’t limited to one traditional medical discipline, our Center staff continually interacts with experts from other medical specialties – including psychiatry, psychology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, otolaryngology, pediatrics, neurology, internal medicine and pulmonary medicine.

Treatment options include devices such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), oral appliances, medications and psychotherapy. Behavioral management techniques are frequently employed and include relaxation training with biofeedback, hypnosis, stimulus control therapy, chronotherapy, sleep hygiene management, phototherapy and sleep restriction, among others.

Women experience sleep problems twice as often as men, and we recognize the unique characteristics of women’s sleep challenges. That’s why we formed the Women’s Program at the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center. Our team of specialists will recommend an optimal course of treatment for you.

Our specialists also diagnose and treat childhood sleep disorders – including obstructive sleep apnea, sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder, behavioral insomnia and sleep enuresis (bedwetting).