Sleepless in the Quad Cities
A good night’s sleep is hard to come by these days. If we aren’t working odd hours, overtime, or surfing the ‘net later than we should, we’re too busy to get to bed on time. Even teenagers are heading back to school through a haze of fatigue.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report nearly 30 percent of Americans habitually sleep less than six hours a night. Yet seven to nine hours is the recommended daily sleep allowance for adults. Teenagers usually need at least nine hours in the sack, but they often stay up too late. The results are short-term effects of sleep loss: diminished per- formance in thinking, attention and physical abilities, as well as irritability and headaches.
Often people don’t know when they’re sleep-deprived or why. If a caffeine infusion is required before you can feel alert, there is likely a problem. “The biggest effects for me were in the morning,” says Chris Brasel, a Moline school psychologist who suffered from sleep apnea until recently. “I had difficulty concentrating in the morning and general physical fatigue.”
Less sleep increases health risks
Prolonged sleep deprivation has long-term consequences that no amount of Starbucks can cure. Ear, Nose, and Throat Surgeon Dr. Douglas Dvorak, Davenport-based ENT Professional Services, says “Lack of sleep is associated with some serious health problems. High blood pressure, heart failure, obesity, heart attack, stroke, and depression can be both the cause and the effect of insufficient sleep,” he warns. “Too little sleep can also disrupt the hormones that regulate appetite. Decreased sleep increases hormones that stimulate appetite, often leading to increased weight gain and which can lead to sleep apnea.”
So how do you know if you need treatment, especially if sleep disorders are to blame? The most common sleep disorder is sleep apnea (see opposite page). Restless leg syndrome and narcolepsy are less common but can also be to blame. Dr Dvorak explains, “Sleep apnea is when a sleeper’s breathing stops for ten seconds or more. Apnea can happen a few times per night to over 100 times per hour. Often a spouse is the one that reports the problem, but this is often underestimated. That is why sleep testing is important. It is estimated that 10% of the American population has sleep apnea but only 3% have been diagnosed.
Restless leg syndrome also goes by several other names, but the symptoms are the same: tingling, crawling, or twitching in the legs that causes the sufferer to wake up in the night. Narcolepsy is a relatively rare disorder in dream sleep that can cause uncontrollable sleepiness in normal waking hours, even after an apparently full night’s sleep. Loud snoring is the most common warning sign for sleep apnea.
There are office procedures that ENT physicians can perform to address snoring such as pillar implants and radio frequency treatments of the palate (throat), but these are only effective if sleep apnea has been ruled out. Having a sleep study is often the only way to confirm whether a loud snorer is just a noisy nuisance or has a serious medical problem with long-term risks such as sleep apnea.
Four Ways to Improve Sleep
Simple changes can help, and if you’re still not getting enough Z’s, it may be time to see a specialist.
Lose weight
Even moderate excess weight can make the problem parts of your throat more bulky and floppy – and more prone to blocking the airway. We all know the recipe for successful weight loss: increase fitness activities while eating healthier. Your doctor can help you with a weight-loss program specific to your needs.
Sleep on your side
Gravity pulls relaxed throat tissues straight down into their airway-blocking formation when you sleep on your back. Rolling over on your side may reduce that blockage.
Avoid alcohol and caffine
Not only does alcohol decrease the quality of sleep, it can – as can antihistamines, sedatives, sleeping pills and others – relax your throat muscles more than usual. Too relaxed means too likely to cause or worsen airway blockage, snoring, and apnea. So avoid alcohol 3 to 4 hours before bedtime, and talk to your doctor about your other medications. Caffeine is often used to combat fatigue, but can lead to difficulty getting to sleep perpetuating the problem.
Unblock your nose
A stuffed-up nose can also make snoring and apnea worse. If you have allergies or sinus problems that are interfering with your sleep, ask your doctor for help. Nasal surgery is highly effective for nasal obstruction and is done as an outpatient procedure, if medications are not helpful. Additionally, smoking stuffs up noses even more, giving smokers yet another reason to quit.
