Making the Diagnosis
A doctor will ask more detailed questions to find out whether someone has
the symptoms of sleep apnea and will examine them physically to see what might
be blocking the airway. Routine blood tests, blood pressure readings, and
examinations of the heart might be done to see if there are physical complications
from sleep apnea or to rule out other possible conditions.
To confirm that the condition is sleep apnea, however, a test called overnight
polysomnography may be done. For this test, a variety of measurements are
taken while the person sleeps in a specialized sleep laboratory.