Summary
Arousals play an important role in a variety of different life situations. In sleep medicine, the short time EEG-arousal was defined and standardized in the 1992 publication of the American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA) as being at least 3 s, but not more than 30 s long. These criteria were quickly integrated in an automated analysis, enabling fast recognition and quantification. They are indicators of sleep fragmentation, drowsiness, and impaired physical and mental efficiency. This investigation presents the automatic arousal analysis of 30 patients with sleep apnea syndrome. The results demonstrate that an automated arousal analysis is indicative of a successful therapy. Additionally, 246 ambulatory monitoring investigations, including snore associated heart rate analysis, were carried out on patients with chronic cardiac and primary pulmonary diseases. These investigations, and the registration of a life threatening asthma attack during sleep, also demonstrate that autonomic and endocrine arousals play an important role in controlling vital functions. Above all, their primary function during sleep is to secure survival. In conclusion, the criteria for arousal analysis should include not only EEG-arousals, but also autonomic, motoric, and even endocrine arousals, which should be evaluated in standardised form.