Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
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Dear Dr. Deb,
I just watched your piece on snoring and sleep apnea. My husband has sleep apnea but doesn’t believe how serious it is. He said he talked to our doctor about it and says she doesn’t seem concerned. How do I convince him this is serious? He just recently woke both of us choking. Said he was dreaming that he was drowning. It is starting to scare me.
Any advice may help.
Thank you.
Penny
Dear Penny,
You are absolutely right about the seriousness of it. His dreams of drowning are exactly what he is doing to his body, depriving it of oxygen.
Sleep Apnea is as common as diabetes but 85% of people with it are not diagnosed or treated.
I don’t know if you saw my blog but if you hit the link below it will take you to the full article that I wrote. Anything in purple is a link to the studies that support how dangerous it is.
Click here for Sleep Apnea Blog
In the blog I talk about being in the hospital with my Uncle with heart failure and the cardiologist telling us it was a result of the apnea. I did not know this and it may be that your physician does not know this link either.
Dr Mark Duetsch who I referenced in the article is an excellent physician and I would recommend that your husband sees him or any other pulmonologist or ENT to get him on the road to recovery.
Be persistent!
Thanks for writing!
Dr. Deb |
Posted in Lifestyle, Memory, Sleep, Smoking | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
My Grandmother found my Uncle face down in a bowl of cereal, sound to sleep, when he was in college. That same Uncle took us to the Red’s game and fell asleep on the floor of the stadium restaurant right in the middle of the 5th inning. He would do laundry all night long and fall asleep mid conversation during the day. I’ve known that he has sleep apnea my whole life. What I didn’t know is that his sleep apnea would put him in the hospital with heart failure and a cardiac arrhythmia. Read about link between heart disease and sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a serious medical condition that can also lead to hypertension, weight gain, impotence, headaches and memory problems. It is very common with 1 in 5 adults have some form of snoring or sleep obstructions yet 85% these go undiagnosed and untreated. People with sleep apnea are far more likely to get in car accidents and let us not forget about the bed partners whose own sleep (& sanity) are affected by the snoring.
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Posted in Lifestyle, Memory, Sleep, Smoking | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
As a child I always prided myself on my memory. I could and still can remember specific childhood events as early as age 2 in vivid detail. Things started to blur during residency when I worked 36-hour shifts but nothing destroyed my memory (as well as other body parts) like children.
The deep slide occurred after the birth of my twins when I boiled my breast pump after forgetting I left it on the stove. The toxic smell of burnt plastic required the fire department to come and air out our apartment. That certainly ruined my chances for mother of the year. I realized 2 things. Hot soapy water is sufficient to clean a breast pump and hormones made me stupid. Certainly sleep deprivation had much to do with it but I remember the moment that I stood in the kitchen and realized my fantastic memory had slipped and I knew that it was related to my hormones. Fortunately, my memory returned but I can’t wait to see what happens when I hit menopause.
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Posted in Breast, Children, Lifestyle, Memory, Menopause, Period, Sex Drive, Smoking | No Comments »
