Colon cancer prevention will bring LaPorte Hospital’s Mobile Health Unit to local communities this month. March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and LaPorte Hospital officials will be traveling around Starke and LaPorte counties to hand out take-home test kits. They’re designed to screen for blood in the stool, which could be a symptom of cancer. Continue reading
IU Health LaPorte Sleep Services Offers Home Sleep Test Option
If you suffer from excessive sleepiness, loud snoring, frequently wake up with a dry mouth or sore throat, have a hard time staying asleep, suffer from high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes or are overweight, you may suffer from sleep apnea. The condition affects at least 40 million adult Americans. is a common disorder involving abnormal pauses in breathing or extreme shallow breathing during sleep. These respiratory disruptions can last 10 seconds to a few minutes, and may occur multiple times within a rest period. Usually, when normal breathing resumes, the sleeper will snort or snore loudly. Sleep apnea is diagnosed through a sleep study, which usually involves an overnight stay at a sleep center where technicians monitor your sleep. IU Health LaPorte Sleep Services now offers an in-home test as an alternative. It measures breathing patterns, heart rate and oxygen levels during the night and is significantly cheaper than traditional overnight testing in a sleep center. It’s also covered by most insurance plans.
