FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                              Contact: Robin Carlascio

June 5, 2008                                                                            219.263.4656

 

When Snoring Signals Danger

The Hidden Dangers of Sleep Apnea

 

When Michael Boo travels to China later this month, he will be taking a machine designed to reduce the affects of his sleep apnea with him.

“The Porter Sleep Disorders Institute and my C-Pap machine have literally changed my life,” Boo said.  A C-Pap provides continuous positive air pressure for individuals while they sleep.

The Chesterton writer/composer never dreamt he might have a sleep disorder – until a chance encounter at a seminar in California – convinced him otherwise.

Boo said it was his roommate at the seminar who recognized the tell-tale signs of sleep apnea and told him he needed to be seen by a specialist.

A trip to his family doctor and prescription to have sleep study done at Porter’s Sleep Disorders Institute helped Boo realize that what he took as his normal sleep routine – waking up with a snort 10-12 times a night – wasn’t normal at all.

“The sleep study uncovered the fact that I was having more than 90 episodes an hour where I stopped breathing,” he said. “My oxygen saturation was only 65 percent, which can, over time, affect your heart and your brain.”

A second sleep study using a C-Pap machine showed dramatically improved results.

“I didn’t wake up at all during the night,” he said. “I went home and had so much energy. I felt good for the first time in years.”

Paul Abbott, director of neurology and sleep medicine at Porter, says cases, like Boo’s, are the reason the sleep lab began 17 years ago and why its work continues today.

“Sleep apnea is one of more than 70 known sleep disorders. It is by far the most deadly,” Abbott said. “Too often, sleep disorders remain unidentified and undiagnosed. Nearly one in two individuals who has sleep apnea remains undiagnosed.”

When Porter opened its sleep lab in 1991, the health system was one of the region’s first-ever sleep centers. Since that time, Dr. Baqhar Mohideen, said the work of staff and physicians has helped diagnose sleep disorders in thousands of people, a diagnosis that has helped save hundreds of lives.

Mohideen, along with Dr. Richard H. Silberman are co-medical directors and oversee the Sleep Disorders Institute, located at 6040 Lute Road in Portage.

             Silberman said, too often, people dismiss problems associated with sleeplessness or a failure to get restful sleep.

“People need to know this is an issue that needs to be addressed,” he said. “Untreated conditions, such as sleep apnea, take a real toll on the body and on your life.”

Boo considers himself one of the lucky ones whose life has been saved by the Sleep Disorders Institute.

“I truly don’t go anywhere without the C-Pap machine. It has made such a difference in my life,” he said. “I wake up and feel alive. I used to have deep, dark circles under both of my eyes. They’re gone. I sleep well. And I feel better than I have in years.”