Wednesday, July 30, 2003

Tired of being tired?

For Linda Ragland, being exhausted all the time became a way of life.

Ragland, a registered nurse at Newnan Hospital, has always had a high level of energy. However, about two years ago, Linda began to notice that she was overly tired during the day and couldn't figure out why. She saw her physician and was tested for Epstein Barr Syndrome, chronic fatigue and mononucleosis, but all of the test results came back negative.

Linda was waking up 3-5 times a night with headaches and taking Tylenol to get just a few more hours of sleep. She would sometimes wake up choking and gasping for air. Her exhaustion became so extreme that she was afraid to drive because she might fall asleep at the wheel, forcing her to put down the car windows and blare the radio.

At the suggestion of her doctor, Linda underwent a sleep study at Newnan Hospital's Sleep Center and discovered she suffers from sleep apnea, a fairly common condition that occurs when airways are blocked during sleep, and the patient briefly stops breathing. Linda's results indicated she would stop breathing 25-30 times per night, and her body's response was to gasp in order to get oxygen, which was interrupting her sleep and causing headaches.

Physicians at the Newnan Hospital Sleep Center fitted Linda with a CPAP device, a facemask that delivers oxygen through the nose for patients with Sleep Apnea. Linda says that after her first night with the machine, she slept like a baby and woke up feeling refreshed.

Now, two years later, Linda continues to use the mask every night. "I'm a new woman," she said. "I can't function without it."

About 70 million Americans suffer from a sleep problem. Sleep apnea is a common and serious sleep disorder and is associated with high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart attack, pulmonary hypertension, stroke, infertility, diabetes, and injury from accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that drowsy driving causes approximately 100,000 car crashes per year and people suffering from sleep apnea are six times more likely to be involved in a car crash.

The most obvious symptom of Sleep Apnea is loud, excessive snoring and short pauses in breathing. Often sufferers, such as Linda, do not realize they are struggling to breath. The person lying next to you may be in the best position to alert you to a problem.

"Ask your bed partner if your snoring is extremely loud or accompanied by gasps and snorts," said Beth Bailey, Supervisor of Newnan Hospital's Sleep Center. "Chances are you are waking them up as well, and you are both suffering."

Besides loud, heavy snoring, symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing or Sleep Apnea include daytime sleepiness, morning headaches, energy loss, and the lack of or inability to concentrate. There are a variety of treatments that may alleviate sleep-related breathing problems, ranging from simple lifestyle changes to surgery. If you suffer from these symptoms, talk to your physician or call the Newnan Hospital Sleep Center at 770-254-3289.

For Linda, seeking treatment gave her a new lease on life. Plus she now has the energy to keep up with her two very active grandchildren.

News that won't put you to sleep

A Michigan train wreck that killed two men last year was caused by the fatigue of two crewmembers who were suffering from severe sleep apnea, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The engineer and conductor had been diagnosed before the accident with obstructive sleep apnea by their private physicians but had not been treated. The two men fell asleep while traveling in a wooded area near Clarkston, Michigan Nov. 15, 2001, and did not see a stop signal or the lights of an oncoming train.

A truck driver diagnosed with obstructive Sleep Apnea was found liable in a $5 million lawsuit on behalf of the children of a state trooper killed in a crash along Interstate 40 in Tennessee.The driver had reportedly been warned of the dangers of apnea but had not submitted to treatment.He pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and aggravated assault and was sentenced to a year in jail.

Those with excessive daytime sleepiness will feel for the juror in Kansas City who kept falling asleep and snoring so loudly that the judge eventually called a mistrial.