Sleep illnesses disrupt good night's rest

Snoring might be keeping your spouse awake at night, but what if you woke more tired than when you went to bed the night before?

Many people who suffer from a sleep disorder feel groggier and wearier when they wake than when they went to bed. Sleep disorders affect 40 million Americans, and almost half of them suffer from sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a disorder that causes people to stop breathing during sleep. People who suffer from it often wake themselves up several times during the night, without even realizing it.

The typical candidate for having the disorder is a man between the ages of 30 and 55 who is overweight and snores. However, even children can be diagnosed with the disorder.

Paul Crosnoe of Cape Girardeau uses a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine to regulate his episodes of sleep apnea.

"I did the sleep test and flunked," he said.

Medical officials must document how often a person has apneic episodes. To discover that, sleep labs have been set up to record how people sleep and how often they suffer from apnea.

Sleep apnea can be a serious problem if left undiagnosed since a person could stop breathing and never be aroused again.

Four sleep labs

The county offers four sleep lab with rooms set up to look much like hotel accommodations, except that patients can sleep and be studied. Patients are monitored through video cameras and machines that monitor heartbeat, breathing and eye movement.

"When we see there is a problem with apnea, we can treat it that night," said Mary Morton, director of the Sleep Lab at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

Because Crosnoe's episodes of apnea were so frequent in such a short amount of time, he was eligible for treatment on a CPAP machine that works to keep his airways open during the night.

Crosnoe said he uses the machine "all the time" and isn't bothered by the noise. At first it was difficult to get used to it because "you can't move around much."

But that is a small price to pay for the many people who suffer from the disorder and use CPAP machines for treatment. Before his diagnosis, Crosnoe said he would wake up and still be sleepy. His doctor referred him to a specialist who ordered the sleep lab tests.

Daytime sleepiness is the most common complaint from a person with a sleep disorder. Sleep problems are "rampant in every population" particularly among teen-agers who don't get adequate sleep, said Jean Gooden of the Sleep Well program at St. Francis Medical Center.

"What you should feel when you wake is energetic, that you've had enough sleep to jump out of bed and start your day," Gooden said. In reality, few people really feel that way.

"In general the whole public is deprived in some way," she said.

Crosnoe would fall asleep during conversations before he was diagnosed.

Falling asleep during the day or while reading or just having trouble staying alert are all symptoms of sleep apnea, as are headaches and high blood pressure.

The problem people with sleep apnea encounter isn't difficulty falling asleep, but difficulty moving from the stages of light sleep into deep sleep.

As the body progresses through the stages of sleep -- from light to deep -- a person with apnea is awakened through the night.

Test results from a sleep lab can show a person how severe the problem really is.

"They see exactly how many times they stop breathing" and how low their oxygen levels fall, Gooden said.

Crosnoe said he was surprised by his test results and recommends it to anyone who snores heavily. "I did have a problem but my symptoms went away the next day," he said.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126