Well, I'll tell you. According the American Sleep Apnea Association:
There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; of the three, obstructive is the most common. Despite the difference in the root cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. In central sleep apnea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe. Mixed apnea, as the name implies, is a combination of the two. With each apnea event, the brain briefly arouses people with sleep apnea in order for them to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality.
So what does that mean to you or the people you know who may have it? Well, you know how your partner snores? That could be sleep apnea. Do you toss and turn and do not feel well rested in the morning? That also could be sleep apnea. I'll tell you about three totally different cases of people in my own life who have been diagnosed, but with striking similarities.
Person 1: Male, mid-50s. Heavy. Grouchy. Snores heavily.Was diagnosed with sleep apnea years ago.
Person 2: Female, mid-30s. Large neck. Carries extra weight. Major depression issues. Diagnosed with sleep apnea 10 years ago. Outcome: Has had several sleep studies and has used continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device.
Person 3: Female, 5 years old. Enlarged tonsils. Heavy. Lethargic. Snores heavily. Diagnosed with sleep apnea 6 months ago. After receiving several opinions from doctors, child needs operation to remove tonsils and adenoids. This may relieve symptoms.
Sleep apnea is no joke, although over 12 million Americans are living with this issue (I would guess that the numbers are actually much higher). Most people think that they are just trouble sleepers (I myself have been told that I snore, and I know that I flip from side to side, grind my teeth, etc.) or are losing sleep over snoring. Really, a sleep study is necessary to determine if, and what type, of sleep apnea you have. But this is where it gets tricky. Insurance. Do you have it? Do you have the good kind where you can get any services you need? Or the bad kind, where you have a $2000 deductible before your insurance kicks in? If you have the former, which is what I have, you are in luck! You can get just about any kind of specialized treatment you want. If you have a $2K deductible and you are a working, single mom with a 5-year old with sleep apnea, the options aren't so great.
Sleep apnea is an innocuous health threat. So what if Person 1 is a kind of a heavy, grouchy guy and takes Ambien to sleep at night? Person 2, well some people just can't get their act together...Person 3, well, some kids are couch potatoes and don't feel like running around and playing. But take some of these issues to the next level, both for their personal lives and the rest of us, including the healthcare system. Because sleep apnea is so prevalent and the general public perhaps excuses these symptoms in themselves, therefore not telling their doctor (under the best of circumstances) or are ignored by their doctor, or don't have a doctor (under the worst of circumstances, one can imagine that there are a lot of unrested people out there...ones that have obesity issues, high blood pressure, memory problems, are tired, upset, grouchy, depressed. And these are the people that are on the roads (BIG problem with truckers), providing "customer service" and just generally living their lives.
As sleep is so central to the functioning of the mind, body and spirit, perhaps doctors and patients should be paying closer attention. Of course, you've got to do your part too...you've got to not drink caffeine after 5pm, exercise and do what YOU can to get a restful night sleep, but if that fails a sleep study may be in order. Of course, this may be where universal health insurance comes in handy...and not the crappy deductible kind...the real deal where you see the specialist that you need to help you and your child, even in these difficult economic times.
If this happens, it could impact the coffee industry, as well as sleep aids!
