Rest Assured
The first institute
dedicated to sleep
disorders in Central Texas
is ramping up patient care
and research efforts
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.
“O
ur previous location had seven
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.
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THE CATALYST Fall 09 | sw.org
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
sw.org | Fall 09 THE CATALYST
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