NZ Respiratory & Sleep Institute
Our services were previously based at the Mercy Specialist Centre, where Auckland Physiology (Sleep & Breathing Investigations Ltd) provided Lung function and Sleep Laboratory tests. A group of Respiratory & Sleep Specialists provided consulting services.
Several providers have now co-located to a new, purpose designed facility, centrally placed with excellent parking. This will allow us to provide the country's best and most comprehensive private respiratory and sleep service.
Medical and Dental Respiratory & Sleep Specialists are able to provide clinical consultation for patients with respiratory disease and sleep disorders, including snoring. Urgent consultation (same day) is available, by arrangement, for patients with cancer or abnormal radiology.
The specialists also undertake timely consultation and investigations to meet immigration and occupational requirements. There is particular expertise in occupational lung disease, diving and aviation (altitude) medicine.
Sleep & Breathing (NZ) Ltd is able to undertake a full range of diagnostic lung function testing, from simple spirometry to more detailed pulmonary physiology testing. We also provide the best range of sleep testing in Australasia; in-lab polysomnography and MSLT/MWT, home based sleep apnoea assessments; prolonged infraRed video monitoring and actigraphy.
Sleep & Breathing (NZ) Ltd provides a full range of equipment for people with sleep or lung disorders needing treatment with nasal CPAP, oral devices, oxygen etc. We provide a full range of light therapy (White lightboxes and Green lightboxes) devices for the management of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and circadian disorders.
Psychologists Marie Young and Dr. Anna Clarkson have now joined the Institute. They have a particular interest in working with sleep disorders and offer group-based and individual interventions to assist sleep. The psychologists draw on research and experience to help patients make simple changes designed to restore sleep.
We are also happy to introduce Sarah Mooney, Respiratory Physiotherapist to the Institute. Sarah has worked extensively in her chosen field and has an interest in the management of bronchiectasis and breathing pattern disorders. More recently, she has undertaken research in different aspects of both respiratory conditions.
Sleep & Breathing (NZ) Ltd has a Clinical Research Division which is actively involved in drug and equipment research.
What is Respiratory Medicine?
Respiratory medicine is the branch of medicine that investigates and treats people with diseases affecting the lungs, breathing tubes, chest wall and breathing.
Common symptoms or signs of lung disease include: shortness of breath, wheezing, cough, coughing up blood or sputum (phlegm), and having chest pains.
The lungs deliver oxygen into our bloodstream and remove carbon dioxide. When you breathe in, air passes through the throat into the windpipe (trachea). The base of the windpipe divides into the right and left tubes (bronchi) which divide again and again each time getting smaller and smaller like the branches of a tree, until the smallest airways deliver the air to the alveoli. The alveoli are the spongy spaces where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. They act like balloons i.e. when you breathe in they inflate and when you breathe out they relax.
Oxygen moves across the walls of the alveoli and enters the bloodstream and is carried to the rest of the body after passing through the heart. Carbon dioxide is passed from the blood into the alveoli and is breathed out of the lungs.
What is Sleep Medicine?
Sleep medicine is the specialty which investigates and manages disorders where there is difficulty in getting off to sleep or staying awake in the night (insomnias), difficulty with feeling tired or sleepy in the day (sleep apnoea, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, snoring etc), and with the movement disorders of sleep (parasomnias such as sleep walking and talking, REM behaviour disorder, nocturnal epilepsies).
We provide the best range of sleep testing in Australasia; in-lab polysomnography and MSLT/MWT, home based sleep apnoea assessments; prolonged infraRed video monitoring and actigraphy.
A range of treatments are coordinated for the management of snoring and sleep apnoea by the Institute, including pressure treatment with nasal CPAP, dental devices and upper airway surgery. Light boxes of various types correct seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and circadian problems with sleep timing. We have access to a range of medication and experts in the non drug treatment of insomnia.