74 TO YOUR HEALTH
NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2014
Snoring can be lifethreatening
Forty to 60 percent of adults snore. Spouses of a
snorer suffer from "Second Hand Snoring." A
spouse of a snorer sleeps 62 minutes less per night,
according to a Mayo Clinic report in 1999. A loud
snorer is capable of making more noise than a jackhammer or motorcycle.
Normally, air passes through the nose and past
the flexible structures in the back of the throat such
DR. MICHAEL as the soft palate, uvula and tongue. During sleep,
DOBLIN
the muscles relax, but normally the airway stays
open. The snoring sound is created by the vibration
of the pharyngeal soft tissues as air passes through
an airway that is partially constricted or collapsed, thereby producing the sound.
Snoring is a common symptom of sleep apnea (without breath
during sleep), but not everyone who snores has sleep apnea.
Approximately 70 percent of people who snore loudly have sleep
apnea. Patients with sleep apnea often make choking or gasping
sounds and they are constantly shifting sleeping positions when
they wake up to breathe. The noise and restless movement can help
spouses recognize a sleep related breathing disorder.
Snoring and obstructive sleep apnea have similar causes.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) happens when the tissue in the
upper airway collapses, blocking the airway and causing air flow to
stop. These collapses can happen hundreds of times a night. These
pauses in your breathing can be as brief as 10 to 30 seconds, or last
as long as a minute or longer. When the collapse occurs, oxygen is
kept from reaching your organs, including your brain and heart. The
brain causes you to wake to breathe, and it can happen so fast, you
may not know it. This causes your sleep to be fragmented, leading
to daytime sleepiness. In severe cases, this "suffocation," can occur
for 60 to 90 seconds, up to 500 times per night, night after night.
In addition to snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep
apnea can cause memory loss, morning headaches, irritability,
depression, decreased sexual dysfunction, hormone irregularity,
Type 2 diabetes, impaired concentration, acid reflux and has been
linked to cancer and weight gain. Sleep Apnea patients have a much
higher risk of stroke (90 percent have OSA) and heart problems, such
as heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension. Sleep
Apnea patients are also more likely to be involved in an accident at
the workplace or while driving. Sleep apnea patients are twice as
likely to die in their sleep and, left untreated, their life expectancy
is 55.
You can live three weeks without food, three days without water,
but just three minutes without oxygen. Oxygen saturation is a major
component of OSA. Repeated breathing stoppages inhibit the
body’s ability to process oxygen. Typically, most hospitals will put
patients on oxygen masks if the patient drops below 92-percent oxygen saturation (hypoxemia); however it is not uncommon to see
patients with OSA drop into the 80-, 70-, or even 50-percent range.
It’s almost impossible to get someone to drop to 90 percent by simply holding their breath for even two minutes, which further
emphasizes the severity of sleep apnea.
Primary care practices are not actively screening patients for OSA,
which leaves a large void in the number of patients being diagnosed
with this killer disease. It is the dental sleep specialist, during an oral
exam can readily screen patients based on the anatomical characteristics of their oral cavity, and in conjunction with a patient ques-