Honey, quit snoring!

Snoring in China

2006-05-05T02:47:00.000-07:00

April 2006: China's military raises standards for recruiting potential officers.

They issued a ban that calls for no drug users, no tattoos, and no heavy snorers.

The Chinese military did not indicate how the army plans to test for heavy snorers.

Snoring in Massachusetts

2006-05-05T02:44:00.000-07:00

In Massachusetts, it is illegal to snore unless all your windows are closed and locked.

Sleepless in America

2006-05-05T02:03:00.000-07:00

Fatigue costs businesses roughly $150 billion a year in lost productivity.
Two-thirds of adults report frequent sleep problems.
Before Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb, people slept an average of 10 hours a night.
More than 60 percent of adults get less than eight hours of sleep nightly.
More than half of adolescent drivers have driven drowsy during the past year.

Source: National Sleep Foundation

Facility focuses on sleep disorders

2006-05-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

By JAN JARVIS
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH
04/27/2006

Kim Strickland was falling asleep during stop lights and movies.

Every time I had a chance, I was falling asleep, said Strickland, 36 of Fort Worth. I felt like I was always in a cloud.

The third-year medical student, wife and mother attributed the sleepiness to her demanding schedule. But after spending the night at the UNT Health Science Center's Sleep Diagnostic Center and Laboratory, Strickland learned she had severe sleep apnea. The Sleep Diagnostic Center at 3632 Modlin Ave., in Fort Worth, held its grand opening Thursday to introduce the service to the community. The facility will provide testing for people with sleep disorders such as apnea, insomnia and narcolepsy.

About 18 million people in the United States suffer from sleep apnea, a disorder that causes people to pause or stop breathing for 10 to 20 seconds as often as 30 times an hour. It affects about 9 percent of males and 4 percent of females, said Dr. Sherif Al-Farra, director of the new Sleep Diagnostic Center and Laboratory.

Sleep apnea is not just about snoring, Al-Farra said. Studies indicate it is associated with a higher risk of stroke and heart attacks.

Most of the time patients are not conscious that they are waking up again and again, he said. But in the morning they are really tired.

Sleep deprivation affects about 70 million people in the United States, according to the American Board of Sleep Medicine. Insomnia, the most common sleep disorder, effects 30 to 40 percent of adults in the country. Fatigue and drowsiness contributes to more than 100,000 police-reported highway crashes, causing 71,000 injuries and 1,500 deaths each year"

“The majority of people, especially teenagers are sleeping less and doing more,” Al-Farra said.
Adolescents need 8-1/2 to 9-1/4 hours of sleep a night but few get that much. A recent National Sleep Foundation poll found that 60 percent of children under 18 complain of being tired during the day.

Sleep disorders are such a significant public health problem in the United States that an Institute of Medicine released a report this month calling for more specialists. There are nearly 3,000 specialists in the United States, according to the American Board of Sleep Medicine.

At the Sleep Diagnostic Center and Laboratory, patients typically spend the night in beds hooked up to electrodes that monitor bodily functions such as heart rate and breathing. The data is then analyzed and a treatment recommended.

For patients with sleep apnea, the most common treatment involves wearing a mask that blows air into the throat. Called continuous positive airway pressure or CPAP, it keeps the throat open while the person is asleep.

Strickland said that since being treated for sleep apnea she now gets a sound rest and wakes up refreshed.

“I’m not falling asleep at the wheel, “ she said. “And I can watch a movie until it ends.”

Helping people get a night's rest is big business

2006-05-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Monday, May 01, 2006
Suzanne Hoholik

Over-the-counter medications didn't help David Kivimaki, so he spent a night at the hospital, where they monitored his sleep.

David Kivimaki's sleep has been out of whack for a year. He sleeps no more than five hours, is up at least twice a night and is tired all day. 'When I'm driving, I almost feel like I could pull over on the side of the road and take a catnap,' said Kivimaki, a 36-year-old salesman from Lewis Center.

He tried over-the-counter medications before going to his doctor, who thought he might have sleep apnea brief breathing lapses that wake the sleeper and can be dangerous.

Recently, Kivimaki spent a Wednesday night and most of Thursday in the Sleep Disorder Center at University Hospitals East, where experts watched him during the night.

It's not cheap. Ohio State charges about $2,700 for a study.

Helping people get a good night's rest is big business.

The number of sleep centers in the United States has nearly tripled in the past decade, and prescriptions for sleep aids have increased by 60 percent since 2000, says IMS Health, a research tracking company.

In all, 42 million sleep-aid prescriptions were filled last year.

Experts say more people probably are suffering from sleep problems these days, in part because of in- creased stress and health issues, including obesity.

On average, adults should get about seven hours of sleep a night, but surveys show that about 40 percent get less. "

Inability to sleep has only recently been recognized as a medical issue. A report by the Institute of Medicine issued last month called lack of sleep a public-health problem. The report said as many as 70 million Americans suffer with chronic sleep disorders that increase their risk of hypertension, diabetes, depression, heart attack and stroke.

"If you don’t sleep, your appetite goes up and you eat more and consume more, leading to obesity and to diabetes," said Dr. Thomas Boat, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati who was involved in the report.

"It’s a problem that has always been there, but there hasn’t been good data."

Drug companies have seen the light. Prescription sales of sleep aids jumped from $1.1 billion in 2001 to $2.7 billion last year, said IMS Health.

A big part of the boom is a result of direct-to-consumer advertising, making Lunesta and Ambien household names.

There’s more to come. At least four other companies have sleep aids awaiting approval, and 10 more medications are in development, said Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry trade group.

"That kind of tells me that pharmaceutical companies are aware of the huge untapped market and are working diligently to create newer and better medications in this area," said Rajesh Balkrishnan, Merrell Dow professor at the OSU College of Pharmacy.

Most health-insurance companies, Balkrishnan said, require pre-approval and consider the newer sleep aids tier-three drugs, meaning a month’s supply can cost $300.

But, "Less than 2 percent of these prior authorizations are rejected by managed care," he said.

Insurance companies are paying for sleep studies, too.

Children’s Hospital, OSU, OhioHealth and Mount Carmel all have sleep centers. There are also several private centers in central Ohio; most have weeks-long waiting lists.

"We have 10 beds and typically we have a backlog of about four weeks," said Dr. Ulysses Magalang, medical director of OSU’s sleep center.

"Some of our patients travel hours to get here."

Employers are interested in making sure their workers get their sleep.

A 2005 study by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine said that annual costs associated with lost productivity, missed days and medical bills because of insomnia can reach $107 billion.

Kivimaki, who won’t know the results of his sleep study for several days, said he’s willing to take prescription medications if it means feeling rested.

"At this point in my life, I would be open to feeling better during the day," he said.

SLEEP 2006 to Take Place in Salt Lake City

2006-05-04T15:43:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! News
Tue May 2, 4:46 PM ET

Jim Arcuri of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
jarcuri@aasmnet.org

Sleep disorders are more prevalent in our society today than ever before. With nearly half of Americans experiencing problems sleeping, the field of sleep is taking on increased interest -- both in the medical community and among patients.

In an effort to enhance the public's understanding of sleep disorders and the treatment options available, an international body of 5,000 leading researchers and clinicians in the field of sleep medicine convenes annually in a six-day scientific meeting to present and discuss new findings and medical developments related to sleep and sleep disorders."

Sleep apnea raises mortality risk after stroke

2006-05-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! News
Wed May 3, 8:45 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Sleep apnea, a common problem involving short periods when breathing stops during sleep, is often seen in stroke patients and appears to be associated with an increased risk of death, Swiss researchers report in the medical journal Stroke.

However, upon further analysis, the only single factor that increased the risk of death after stroke was older age."

Sleep apnea raises mortality risk after stroke - the complete article

Melatonin Most Effective For Sleep When Taken For Off-hour Sleeping

2006-05-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

ScienceDaily

Researchers from the Divisions of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School have found in a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical study, that melatonin, taken orally during non-typical sleep times, significantly improves an individual's ability to sleep.

Melatonin Most Effective For Sleep When Taken For Off-hour Sleeping: - the complete article