Helping you sleep better
Do you choke, snore or gasp for breath while you sleep? If so, you may have sleep apnea.
Sleep disorders can wake you up at night and leave you feeling sleepy all day. Fairview's sleep doctors specialize in helping people with problems such as sleep apnea, insomnia or restless legs syndrome (RLS) get a good night’s rest.
Our team of board-certified sleep physicians, registered sleep technicians, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, nurses and home medical equipment specialists bring advanced training in diagnosing and treating all types of sleep problems.
Conditions we treat include:
- Sleep apnea
- Restless legs syndrome
- Narcolepsy
- Delayed sleep phase syndrome
- Snoring
- Insomnia
- Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep disorder
If you think you have a sleep disorder, talk to your primary care provider or call a Fairview Sleep Center.
Watch the video below to see MaryAnn's experience at the Fairview Sleep Centers.
Meet our care team.
Our care team includes specialists in a broad range of medical specialties including neurology, otolaryngology, pulmonology, and sleep psychology.
Sleep Medicine
Our Providers Make the Difference
Fairview features nearly 4,000 providers practicing at over 200 locations throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area and beyond. Fairview Clinics, University of Minnesota Physicians and our independent partner clinics provide an exceptional care experience, while lowering the overall costs of health care.
Sleep in the News
Fairview Sleep Centers, sleep and sleep specialists in the news:
Which position gives you the best night's sleep?
Viewers up early to watch the WCCO morning show on Feb. 20 got some great advice on how to get a better night’s sleep tonight by changing position. Michael Howell, MD, Fairview Sleep Centers, explained that for many people sleeping on the back is the worst position, but changing sleep positions can be tough. He described how some patients are able to keep themselves in their sides by making a “tennis ball t-shirt."
Study of nurses finds that bright light at beginning of night shift improves insomnia, depression
Conrad Iber, MD, program medical director for Fairview Sleep Centers, reports that use of bright light at the beginning of a night shift resulted in improvement in insomnia and anxiety/depression scores in a small, randomized trial conducted among nurses with rotating night shift work.
Read more about the study.
Assessing sleep apnea before bariatric surgery improves outcomes
Bariatric patients at risk for sleep apnea are not always having assessments prior to surgery: A national survey shows 28.7% of 2,458 have had a sleep study in the past year. Management of sleep apnea before surgery has been shown to improve outcomes. [Chung 2010] View the abstract. http://www.aasmnet.org/JCSM/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=28762
Research shows insomnia to be a predictor for PTSD, depression and anxiety
Insomnia prior to deployment in the military predicts mental health outcomes later: Insomnia was associated with development of PTSD, depression and anxiety. Longitudinal studies of this nature are powerful and add to the increasing evidence linking insomnia to depression and other mental health issues. http://www.journalsleep.org/Accepted.aspx [Gehman]
Drowsy driving may cause up to one-third of fatal accidents
Have 4.2% of us fallen asleep driving in the past 30 days? Conrad Iber, MD, of Fairview Sleep Centers says that a survey of 147,076 drivers in 19 states and the District of Columbia revealed this disturbing frequency of episodes of falling asleep while driving in the past 30 days. [Center for Disease Control] Reporting of accidents and near miss events is often an underestimate, and some estimates place drowsy driving as a cause of 15-33% of fatal accidents. Safety and performance issues related to inadequate sleep and sleep disorders are significant public health issues: The CDC has previously reported a disturbing frequency of inadequate sleep of 30% in the US population with associated driving risk. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6151a1.htm?s_cid=mm6151a1_w
To sleep but not to act out your dreams
Nov. 6, 2012 -- Viewers of WCCO-TV’s morning news got a peek into the bedroom of patients with a sometimes violent sleep disorder. REM Sleep Behavior Disorder can lead people to act out their dreams, even attacking their bed partner thinking they are an aggressor. It may be an indicator that a patient will develop Parkinson’s a decade down the road. Michael Howell, MD, Fairview Sleep Centers, talks about his work to help patients sleep safer, and a patient is interviewed.
The science behind Seasonal Affective Disorder
Oct. 30, 2012--Shorter days and colder temps can lead to depression for some people. Michael Howell, MD, Fairview Sleep Centers, is interviewed about seasonal affective disorder. The story appeared on WCCO-TV in two shows. Dr. Howell demonstrates how light therapy works for some patients, and discussed the causes of SAD.
Winterize your body
Oct. 6, 2012 -- An article in the Star Tribune features Fairview experts explaining what the change of seasons is doing to our bodies and how to fight against it. Conrad Iber, MD, Fairview Sleep Centers, Kelly Scheller, outpatient dietitian, University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, and Melissa Dvorak, PA, weight loss clinic at Fairview Southdale Hospital, are quoted.
More study + Less sleep = Less learning
Conrad Iber, M.D., medical director of Fairview’s Sleep Medicine Center, was interviewed by KARE-11 News about a sleep-related topic many high school and college students face each year. A new report confirms that staying up late in order to cram for a test is not the best strategy. See the story, which aired in September.
Which position gives you the best night's sleep?
Viewers up early to watch the WCCO morning show on Feb. 20 got some great advice on how to get a better night’s sleep tonight by changing position. Michael Howell, MD, Fairview Sleep Centers, explained that for many people sleeping on the back is the worst position, but changing sleep positions can be tough. He described how some patients are able to keep themselves in their sides by making a “tennis ball t-shirt."
Study of nurses finds that bright light at beginning of night shift improves insomnia, depression
Conrad Iber, MD, program medical director for Fairview Sleep Centers, reports that use of bright light at the beginning of a night shift resulted in improvement in insomnia and anxiety/depression scores in a small, randomized trial conducted among nurses with rotating night shift work.
Read more about the study.
Assessing sleep apnea before bariatric surgery improves outcomes
Bariatric patients at risk for sleep apnea are not always having assessments prior to surgery: A national survey shows 28.7% of 2,458 have had a sleep study in the past year. Management of sleep apnea before surgery has been shown to improve outcomes. [Chung 2010] View the abstract. http://www.aasmnet.org/JCSM/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=28762
Research shows insomnia to be a predictor for PTSD, depression and anxiety
Insomnia prior to deployment in the military predicts mental health outcomes later: Insomnia was associated with development of PTSD, depression and anxiety. Longitudinal studies of this nature are powerful and add to the increasing evidence linking insomnia to depression and other mental health issues. http://www.journalsleep.org/Accepted.aspx [Gehman]
Drowsy driving may cause up to one-third of fatal accidents
Have 4.2% of us fallen asleep driving in the past 30 days? Conrad Iber, MD, of Fairview Sleep Centers says that a survey of 147,076 drivers in 19 states and the District of Columbia revealed this disturbing frequency of episodes of falling asleep while driving in the past 30 days. [Center for Disease Control] Reporting of accidents and near miss events is often an underestimate, and some estimates place drowsy driving as a cause of 15-33% of fatal accidents. Safety and performance issues related to inadequate sleep and sleep disorders are significant public health issues: The CDC has previously reported a disturbing frequency of inadequate sleep of 30% in the US population with associated driving risk. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6151a1.htm?s_cid=mm6151a1_w
To sleep but not to act out your dreams
Nov. 6, 2012 -- Viewers of WCCO-TV’s morning news got a peek into the bedroom of patients with a sometimes violent sleep disorder. REM Sleep Behavior Disorder can lead people to act out their dreams, even attacking their bed partner thinking they are an aggressor. It may be an indicator that a patient will develop Parkinson’s a decade down the road. Michael Howell, MD, Fairview Sleep Centers, talks about his work to help patients sleep safer, and a patient is interviewed.
The science behind Seasonal Affective Disorder
Oct. 30, 2012--Shorter days and colder temps can lead to depression for some people. Michael Howell, MD, Fairview Sleep Centers, is interviewed about seasonal affective disorder. The story appeared on WCCO-TV in two shows. Dr. Howell demonstrates how light therapy works for some patients, and discussed the causes of SAD.
Winterize your body
Oct. 6, 2012 -- An article in the Star Tribune features Fairview experts explaining what the change of seasons is doing to our bodies and how to fight against it. Conrad Iber, MD, Fairview Sleep Centers, Kelly Scheller, outpatient dietitian, University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, and Melissa Dvorak, PA, weight loss clinic at Fairview Southdale Hospital, are quoted.
More study + Less sleep = Less learning
Conrad Iber, M.D., medical director of Fairview’s Sleep Medicine Center, was interviewed by KARE-11 News about a sleep-related topic many high school and college students face each year. A new report confirms that staying up late in order to cram for a test is not the best strategy. See the story, which aired in September.
Sleep center patients share their stories
Chris F., sleep apnea patient
My name is Christopher. I’m 26 years old, married, and live in Princeton, Minn., where I work as the automotive service center manager.
I had a really bad snoring problem and I never felt rested. I was snoring loud enough to wake myself up at night, and I was waking my wife up, too. I was only sleeping two or three hours a night. In the morning I was so tired that the entire day was a struggle.
My family physician, Dr. Jeremy Peterson at Fairview Clinics – Princeton, referred me for a sleep study at the Fairview Sleep Center located at Fairview Northland Medical Center. At first I was extremely nervous. I made it all the way to the hospital once, and then chickened out. I just went home. I never even got out of the car.
But my sleep problems kept getting worse, and Dr. Peterson encouraged me to reconsider having the sleep study done so we rescheduled it. This time I went through with it. I was expecting to be very uncomfortable, but it turned out to be an easy thing for me to do. The sleep technician told me exactly what would happen, and what they were looking for. He eased me into it. I knew exactly what was going to happen, and I almost slept better than I normally do.
I stopped breathing several times during my sleep study. When I came back a day or two later, they set me up with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine that keeps my airway open while I sleep. I swear by that now. Using the CPAP, I sleep seven to eight hours a night. My wife loves it. Now she’s sleeping better, too. I also had a followup appointment scheduled with Oleg Froymavich, MD, who is a sleep specialist and otolaryngologist.
I would tell anybody with a sleep problem – see a doctor, go to a Fairview Sleep Center and have a sleep study done if they recommend it. The doctors and everyone at the sleep center will help you sleep better.
Read another sleep patient story - Deanne
