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The Box Butte General Hospital Auxiliary and their guests were wide awake last Friday to hear Western Sleep Medicine’s Mark Schultz, RPSGT, present a brief program on sleep disorders.
Schultz, who became interested in the subject after being diagnosed with Sleep Apnea four years ago, used his own experiences as an example of how sleep disorders affect individuals, as well as how treatment can bring dramatic results.
He said a person needs, on average, a little over eight hours of sleep a night to be fully rested. “However, the average amount of sleep most of us get is around six-and-a-half hours. One out of six people suffer from more than 60 different sleep disorders, with the most common being Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Movement Disorders.”
As an example, he said that four years ago he was a chronic snorer and felt tired all the time, so much so he decided he needed to be tested. “I was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea, so severe that my heart rate would go as high as 196 beats per minute at times,” he said. “No wonder I was tired.”
Sleep apnea is a common disorder in both men and women in which the airway becomes closed or partially closed while sleeping. When that happens it causes pauses in breathing, sometimes as long as 30-45 seconds, with gasps at the end that result in the individual to partially or fully wake, depriving them of the deep sleep the human body needs to be fully rested.
Schultz said studies have shown that as many as 24 million men and women are at risk, especially those who are overweight and /or have high blood pressure.
The most common way to treat the disorder is to have a machine provide a flow of air to the nose and/or mouth. He said the mask used can be as small as a “pillow” located on the upper lip just below the nose, or as large as one covering both the nose and mouth. “They are surprisingly comfortable,” he said, “and the results are dramatic.” He said the first night he wore his, he woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, “and for the first time in years, I didn’t snore.”
If not treated, the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke increases dramatically. “Sleep apnea lowers blood-oxygen levels,” he said. “And how does your body compensate for that? Simple. Your heart starts beating more rapidly. So this stresses the heart, even though you’re supposed to be getting rest.” Sleep apnea also contributes cardiovascular and pulmonary disease.
Another common disorder is involuntary movement. “This can be as regular as clockwork,” Schultz said. “One of your limbs will twitch, and it will twitch every 15 seconds, or 17 seconds, as regular as can be,” he said. “And after a little while, it will stop, only to start again sometime later in the night. That, too, causes partial or full wakefulness, or as we call it, arousal.”
He gave examples of how to prepare yourself for sleep each evening: Avoid nicotine and caffeine during the evening hours; exercise regularly (even just walking helps); choose a comfortable mattress and pillow; start a relaxing bedtime routine (such as turning out most of the lights at least a half hour before going to bed); go to bed when you are tired and turn out the lights; and make sure the bedroom is cool, dark, quite and comfortable.
Schultz said Western Sleep Medicine can treat those disorders and more, but that insomnia is something that is referred to the patient’s attending physician. “As a matter of fact, we tell all those who ask us questions to first take their concerns to their family physician,” he said.
Western Sleep Medicine operates a free standing two bed laboratory for sleep related breathing disorders in Scottsbluff and contracts to provide diagnostic sleep services for additional two bed laboratories located in BBGH’s new Medical Arts Plaza, Memorial Health Center in Sidney and Banner Community Hospital in Torrington, WY.
© Copyright by Double Q Country Radio
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