by Jeffrey Bramnick

Blockage in the throat can partially or completely stop air from flowing as you sleep.

In films and television, it’s often a joke. As a husband snores loudly, an annoyed wife jabs him in an effort to get some sleep. You can almost hear the laugh track.

But snoring is no laughing matter. It can signal a dangerous, often misunderstood illness: obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Not everyone who snores has sleep apnea, but frequent snorers should talk with their doctors. OSA halts breathing during sleep from five to 15 times an hour and in some cases up to 100 times an hour, says James Herdegen, M.D., medical director of the Sleep Science Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “It can start within the first minute of falling asleep.”

Interrupted breathing restricts the body’s oxygen supply and leaves people with OSA tired all the time. Fatigue can lead to deadly accidents among drivers or people who work with machinery.

Between 2 and 20 percent of Americans have sleep apnea, Dr. Herdegen says. Why the wide range of estimates? America has a growing obesity problem, he notes, “and obesity is a big risk factor for sleep apnea.”

A body mass index greater than 30 is a risk factor for OSA. So is family history. People whose parents, siblings, or children have had sleep apnea “have a twofold increased risk for sleep apnea,” he says.

OSA results from crowding in the upper airway that causes an obstruction in the back of the throat. Blame large tonsils, fatty deposits in the back of the throat in overweight people, and changes in muscle tone at the back of throat. Sleeping on your back can increase the risk.

Treatment ranges from adjusting medications for other illnesses to losing weight to using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. The CPAP device fits over the mouth or nose and pushes air into the back of the throat.

Patients also can use a mouth guard that moves the lower jaw forward and a special T-shirt with a tennis ball in the back that nudges sleepers to turn onto their sides. Surgery, the doctor says, is a last resort.

To Learn More

• Sleep Well, Be Healthy— www.sleepapneainfo.com
• National Sleep Foundation— www.sleepfoundation.org