Bio-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 16,1
Snoring Is No Joking Hotter
WASHINGTON - Cartoonists
and comedians still get a lot of
mileage out of snoring, but for
millions of people it’s no laughing
matter.
Besides straining marriages and
endangering friendships, snoring
can be deadly serious. A severe
form, known as sleep apnea,
leaves people exhausted the next
day and in extreme cases can
cause death.
During periods of sleep apnea,
breathing is totally obstructed for
periods of a few seconds to more
than a minute. Threatened by the
lack of oxygen, the sleeper par
tially awakens, tightens up flabby
throat tissues, and, with a loud
snorting sound, takes a big gulp of
air.
“This can happen as many as 300
tunes a night,” says Dr. David N.
F. Fairbanks, a clinical professor
who does ear, nose, and throat
surgery at George Washington
University Hospital in Washington.
Dangerous Malady
“Because the heart beats
irregularly during these episodes,
people with heart problems and
lung disorders such as emphysema
are at serious risk,” says Fair
banks. “We think that as many as
3,000 Americans may die each year
from the disorder.”
Far more prevalent are the
millions of people who, because of
the problem, never get a good
night's rest. They constantly fall
asleep on the job or, even worse,
behind the wheel of a car or truck.
“I never believed my wife when
she told me I had a serious sleep
problem,” one patient told Fair
banks. “Then one day I was taking
my Boy Scout troop on a camping
trip and started to go off the road.
They woke me up just in time.”
Dr. Richard E. Waldhom, a
pulmonary specialist at the
Georgetown University School of
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Medicine in Washington, says his
secretary can usually diagnose
people suffering from sleep apnea
just by observing them in his
waiting room.
“Many of them are so pooped
they fall asleep while trying to fill
out their medical information
forms,” says Waldhorn.
In contrast, children suffering
from the disorder are usually
hyperactive during the day. They
become anti-social, get into fights,
and have trouble learning and
concentrating at school.
“Removing the tonsils and
adenoids usually does wonders for
these kids,” says Fairbanks. “A
tremendous change usually takes
place after this relatively simple
operation, because removal of the
bulky structures improves the
airways.”
More Serious for Adults
Curing adults is more difficult
because the disorder is usually
caused by more serious airway
obstructions.
In normal snoring, the air flow is
partially obstructed in the
collapsible part of the airway
where the tongue and upper throat
meet the soft palate and the uvula,
the fleshy structure that dangles
from the roof of the mouth back
into the throat.
The rumbles, wheezes, and
growls that drive bed partners to
other rooms occur when these
structures strike against each
other and vibrate during
breathing. The noise stops in
termittently during sleep-apnea
episodes, because the air is
blocked by an excess of tissue in
one or more of the airway struc
tures.
In the past few years, doctors
have perfected a new surgical
procedure that widens and stiffens
the throat by removing and
tightening tissue in the upper
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airway.
“It’s the equivalent of a tummy
tuck or a face-lift where you take
out the excess and flabby flesh and
tighten up the rest,” explains
Fairbanks. “This procedure has
cured about 80 percent of the heavy
snorers and half the apnea
patients.”
For people who don’t want
surgery or haven’t been helped by
it, there’s a new breathing
machine. It directs pressurized air
through a face mask to keep the
upper airway open. But it, too, can
send bed partners scurrying to the
guest room. It sounds like a
vacuum cleaner.
Serious snorers can easily outdo
a vacuum cleaner. One man im
mortalized in the Guinness Book of
World Records recorded 87.5
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ician Sherry Gaines monitors a patient at the Sleep Disorders Center of the
Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, Ca. One of the most common
problems encountered at such centers is sleep apnea, a severe snoring disorder
characterized by abnormal breathing. Experts estimate about 20 varieties of this fun
damental problem affect more than 20 million Americans, sometimes with fatal con
sequences.
decibels, louder than a diesel
engine in the back of a big bus.
But heavy snorers can take some
consolation in knowing that many
political leaders also have been
noisy sleepers. Winston Churchill
was recorded doing 35 decibels,
and Benito Mussolini was known as
an astounding snorer.
Roosevelt Disturbed Patients
At least 20 American presidents
are believed to have been loud
snorers, says Fairbanks. Theodore
Roosevelt probably achieved the
most notoriety. During his stay at
one hospital, almost every person
in his wing asked that the president
be moved elsewhere.
Almost half the adults in the
United States snore occasionally,
and a quarter are habitual. Males
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and overweight persons make up
the majority of snorers, but the
noisemaking increases as people
get older. By age 60, about 60
percent of men and 40 percent of
women snore.
Doctors are convinced that most
snorers can be helped without
drastic surgery. Some of their
suggestions;
Exercise daily to develop muscle
tone and lose weight; avoid
alcoholic beverages within two
hours of bedtime; don’t take
tranquilizers, sleeping pills, or
antihistamines before retiring;
sleep on the side rather than on the
back; tilt the bed by placing bricks
or other objects under the bedposts
at the headboard.
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