When It’s More Than Just Snoring
If you snore, you might have a serious condition called sleep apnea
BY LYNNE SNIERSON
If you’ve ever longed to be wrapped in the arms of Morpheus, you’re hardly alone among seniors who would welcome nightly communion with the mythological Greek God granting restful sleep and sweet dreams.Sleep disorders can plague people at any life stage, but they worsen and become more perilous as we age.
“It was awful. I was snoring like crazy every night. My wife was always yelling at me and didn’t want to sleep with me. It was so bad even the cat wouldn’t sleep in the same room,” says George “Sonny” Tylus, the owner of a promotional marketing company in Salem. “I would toss and turn all night and wake up still tired every morning. I knew I wasn’t sleeping right, but I didn’t know what was wrong with me.”
Tylus was diagnosed six years ago with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most common type of sleep apnea, which can be life-threatening if left untreated. It is marked by brief but repeated interruptions in breathing while sleeping.
“The [sleep disorder] condition that has the most severity and the most wide-ranging adverse health effects is obstructive sleep apnea, which is often associated with the occurrence of other medical conditions or may increase the possibility of other medical conditions that are diverse and many,” says Dr. George Neal, the medical director of the New England Sleep Center at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester. “If severe enough, it can cause or contribute to heart failure or serious cardiac rhythm problems. Statistically, people with apnea have a shorter life span. Overall, there is a higher risk of stroke, heart attack, diabetes and hypertension in individuals with apnea. It can exacerbate a number of those [existing] medical conditions.”
Although it is unknown how many Americans suffer from OSA because many cases go undiagnosed, Dr. Elizabeth Lynch says that studies estimate three to seven percent of the population is afflicted. Nevertheless, numbers can be deceiving.
“When you start breaking it down into different age groups and different sexes, you can start to say that there is a little bit of disparity. Women tend to have it a little less than men and for those over the age of 65, it’s usually a little bit more prevalent, maybe upwards of 15 percent,” says Lynch, the director of the Sleep Institute of New England, which is headquartered in Kingston with satellite offices in Portsmouth and Derry.
Although OSA is more common in men overall, as women grow older they become increasingly more at risk.
“What I say to my [female] patients is this is one more ‘fun’ thing about menopause,” says Dr. Anne Magauran, director of the Center for Sleep Disorders at Exeter Hospital. “It is absolutely true that OSA is more prevalent in men, but as women become menopausal it evens out. The hormonal changes do change the incidence. Older men still have it a little more than women but they are almost equal. It’s almost a three-to-one men-to-women ratio prior to menopause.”
Often when seniors tell their family, friends, or even in some cases their physicians, that they are experiencing problems with falling asleep, staying asleep and suffering with other symptoms, they are told that it is just a normal part of the aging process.
“The problem is more widespread than people thought but the awareness of it is increasing. More and more research is being conducted. People who suffered often took this as that’s just the way it is, but it doesn’t have to be that way anymore,” says Magauran.
FYI
If you suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), your bed partner will most likely become aware of it before you do. After all, you’re asleep and don’t know how loud you’re snoring and that you are making choking or gasping sounds after you stop breathing intermittently. Although not everyone who snores suffers from sleep apnea, it’s one of the most common symptoms of the condition, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Other well-documented symptoms include:
*Fighting the urge to fall asleep during the day, at work or while driving
*Morning headaches
*Memory or learning
*Problems and not being able to concentrate
*Feeling irritable, depressed, or having mood swings or personality changes
*Waking up frequently to urinate
*Dry mouth or sore throat when you wake up
