Continued from previous message...

   APNEA HAS SEVERAL GUISES

   Heavy snoring is the hallmark of the most common form of sleep
   apnea, upper-airway, or obstructive, apnea.  In this disorder,
   a blockage at the upper end of the airway halts the movement of
   air.  The muscles of the diaphragm and chest that help move air
   in and out of the lungs continue to work.  Eventually, the
   rhythmic muscle contractions build up so much pressure that the
   airway is "uncorked."  The person awakens briefly, gasping as
   air rushes in.  Then he sinks back into sleep, an obstruction
   develops, breathing stops and the cycle repeats itself.

   Sometimes the airway remains open but the diaphragm and chest
   muscles stop working.  This form of apnea is known as central
   apnea.  When it occurs, an alarm apparently sounds in the brain,
   awakening the sleeper.  The act of awakening restarts breathing.
   Because the airway stays open, snoring may not occur.

   In mixed apnea, a brief episode of central apnea typically is
   followed by a longer episode of obstructive upper-airway apnea,
   repeatedly throughout the night.  People with mixed apnea
   sometimes snore.  Waking makes it possible for breathing to
   begin again.

   Although a person experiencing apneas might have all three
   forms in a single night, generally either obstructive apnea
   or central apnea predominates, and the former is more common.
   Partial blockages can occur, too; they're referred to as
   "hypopneas."  Although less serious than complete interruptions
   in breathing, partial ones may cause trouble too.

   UPPER-AIRWAY APNEA

   In The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens gives us a classic
   description of the untoward effects of upper-airway apnea.
   Fat Joe, the red-faced serving boy, "goes on errands fast
   asleep, and snores as he waits at table."  This combination
   of massive obesity, breathing difficulties during sleep,
   and daytime sleepiness came to be called the "Pickwickian
   syndrome."

   Those with the Pickwickian syndrome, however, represent only
   about 5 percent of all people who have upper-airway apnea.
   Obesity can, indeed, make a bad situation worse.  The most
   severely affected people tend to be extremely overweight; thin
   people, however, may develop apnea too.  Curiously, many people
   with this disorder have a short, thick neck, even if they are
   not fat.  Before the age of fifty, far more men than women have
   it; in the older years, both sexes are afflicted nearly equally.

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    - Origin: Paul's Waka Waka BBS 206-783-7979 Seattle, Wa. (1:343/117)



--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+