Health Advice from Dr. Elliott Kroger, Sedgebrook Medical Director

I’m privileged to work with a highly-skilled medical team at Sedgebrook. Since we are able to spend more time with each patient, we learn more about your individual health needs, and take the time to answer all of your questions. In this month’s “Doctor on Call”, I’d like to address an issue that came up recently in our Medical Center—snoring and the health concerns surrounding it.

The National Institutes of Health estimates sleep apnea affects more than 12 million Americans. David Rapaport, M.D., director of research in sleep disorders at NYU School of Medicine, still thinks the problem is vastly underrecognized by both the public and their doctors. Left untreated, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases, memory loss, depression, and a wide range of medical problems. In addition, it affects our quality of life, impairing everything from our driving ability, to our sex lives.

Apnea Defined
The word “apnea” means “without breath,” thus, people with the condition stop breathing while they are asleep. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form, and it is caused by a blockage in the throat resulting when the soft tissue at the back collapses. That blockage, which creates the sound of snoring, happens at least 15 times per night, and, for some people, as often as 100 times. Why does it happen? Obesity is usually the main reason cited, but there’s now evidence that’s not necessarily the cause. People in Japan and other countries where they’re much less overweight, seem to have the same incidence of apnea as in the United States.

Apnea that affects older people may be caused by their medications or by removing their dentures, disturbing the airway’s support. The bottom line is, why apnea occurs still isn’t clear.