The first institute dedicated to sleep disorders in Central Texas is ramping up patient care and research efforts
Rest
A good night ' s sleep is necessary to maintain overall health . More patients than ever before need sleep medicine expertise , prompting the Scott & White Sleep Institute to centralize its physicians and staff into a single larger location on the main hospital campus in Temple . The institute has recruited more staff and almost doubled bed capacity for sleep studies .
ur previous location had seven
“ O beds , and now we have 12 , with the ability to add four more if we need to ,” says Carl D . Boethel , MD , director of the Sleep Institute at Scott & White Healthcare . The move allows more patients per night to be evaluated in the center ’ s state-of-the-art sleep lab .
“ We can ’ t keep up . We have a long list of people waiting for sleep studies ,” says Francisco Perez-Guerra , MD , chief , Section of Sleep Disorders , and founder of the Sleep Institute more than 25 years ago .
A much-needed resource for sleep apnea and insomnia Although insomnia is the best-known sleep disorder , sleep apnea is the problem that the center ’ s team treats most often . Millions of Americans have sleep apnea , a disorder characterized by interrupted breathing — from shallow breaths to pauses between breaths that last from a few seconds to minutes — that can be diagnosed only during a sleep study . Sleep apnea was rare when Dr . Perez-Guerra saw his first case in 1971 . “ As time has gone by , it has exploded ,” he says . “ Sleep authorities are seeing huge numbers of persons with sleep apnea .” Dr . Boethel says sleep apnea is associated with weight gain , which could be to blame . “ With the obesity epidemic in this country , we have definitely seen a rise in sleep apnea ,” he says . “ Statistics show that one-third of all Americans are overweight . I think that number is low .”
“ Sleep has a large effect on wellness and mood , and sleep apnea can lead to high blood pressure , diabetes and even car wrecks . This makes the disorder a serious
12 THE CATALYST Fall 09 | sw . org