From <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Mon Feb 9 08:31:28 1998 Return-Path: <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Received: from tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (TCUAVM.IS.TCU.EDU [138.237.128.148]) by cap1.CapAccess.org (8.6.12/8.6.10) with SMTP id IAA07806; Mon, 9 Feb 1998 08:31:28 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 3724; Mon, 09 Feb 98 07:23:42 CDT Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 0193; Mon, 9 Feb 1998 07:24:35 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LISTSERV release 1.8b) with NJE id 9869 for SCOUTS-L@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU; Mon, 9 Feb 1998 07:23:45 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 9868; Mon, 9 Feb 1998 06:41:54 -0500 Approved-By: EIDSON@TCUBVM Received: from TCUBVM (NJE origin SMTP@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 7267; Sun, 8 Feb 1998 11:38:16 -0500 Received: from ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU by tcubvm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Sun, 08 Feb 98 11:36:18 CDT Received: from big.fishnet.net (big.fishnet.net) by ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU (PMDF V5.0-5 #20456) id <01ITC3HRHLKW008JVT@ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU> for SCOUTS-L@ALPHA.IS.TCU.EDU; Sun, 08 Feb 1998 11:35:11 -0500 (CDT) Received: from morrisrl (port083.vta.fishnet.net [205.216.133.232]) by big.fishnet.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id JAA13463 for ; Sun, 08 Feb 1998 09:24:08 -0800 X-Sender: rodger@fishnet.net MIME-version: 1.0 X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.3 (32) Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19980208095246.018296a0@fishnet.net> Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 09:52:46 -0800 Reply-To: Rodger Morris Sender: Scouts-L Youth Group List From: Rodger Morris Subject: Snoring Tent Mates and Obstructive Sleep Apnea X-To: SCOUTS-L@TCU.EDU To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L Status: RO X-Status: I urge all whose snoring is so loud that they must sleep away from the rest of the troop to seek a medical evaluation for possible obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA). Read on: I was one of those whose snoring literally scared new Scouts. They thought a bear was invading the campsite. At first, it was funny and became a troop joke. Over the next 20 years, it got gradually worse. I used to try to camp at _least_ 50 yards, and preferably 100 yards away from everybody else. I was always tired, and I struggled to stay awake during the day. Now, I don't snore, and I experience no more than normal tiredness. But, before I arrived at this happy state of affairs, I almost died. I have something called: "Severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome" Snoring is caused by a partial blockage of the airway in the throat. About 25% of adult males snore, and it tends to get louder with advancing age. About 4% of adult males develop OSA. Women get it too, but it is much less prevalent in females than in males. This syndrome has many symptoms, but the most noticable to the outside observer is that of extremely loud snoring, punctuated by prolonged silences of up to a minute or more where the snorer is not breathing, ended by and an explosive gasping. This syndrome can and does kill. The risk of heart attack and stroke are tripled, and the risk of falling asleep at the wheel and dying in an automobile crash is quintupled. In the meantime, the body takes a fearful beating. It is reportedly one of the most underdiagnosed treatble medical conditions in the USA today. My crisis point came in July of 1994 whilst I was at summer camp with my troop at Camp Kern, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Camp Kern is at 7000' (2100m) elevation. We arrived Sunday afternoon. By Wednesday morning, I was so exhausted that I was falling asleep whenever I sat down, and my ankles had swollen to almost the size of my calf muscles. I was worried that I might be developing pulmonary edema. I went to the camp physician at the health lodge. He checked me out and told me that my lungs were clear of fluid buildup and suggested that I see a physician after I returned home. We departed Camp kern on Saturday. On Monday, I scheduled a doctor's appointment. After undergoing a "polysomnogram", wherein one is wired up with all manner of sensors and monitored by a computer, I learned that I stopped breathing 109 times per hour, that I was breathing on the average 22 seconds out of every forty, that I stopped breathing for over a minute at a time, that my peripheral oxygen level was down to 65% (90% to 95% is normal, and 75% would trigger a "code blue" emergency medical intervention in a hospital), that my heart was going arrythmic, that my heartbeat was revving up and down between 70 and 130 beats per minute all night, that I was getting almost no rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and that I was getting zero Stage 3 and Stage 4 sleep. A subsequent ultrasound of my heart showed that it was greatly enlarged because of how hard it had been working, but that I hadn't developed congestive heart failure. I had two surgeries to remove airway obstructions. The first was to correct a badly deviated nasal septum and the second was to remove my tonsils (which were so large they were touching in the middle of my throat) and to remove the uvula and a half centimeter of my soft palate. I also have a "Constant Positive Airway Pressure" (CPAP) machine to keep my airway open whilst I sleep. This machine is portable, and I have camped with my troop for up to a week at a time with it. I run it off a marine deep cycle battery fitted with an AC to DC inverter. The medical intervention needed for OSA is usually not so extensive. Some milder cases may be alleviated simply by losing weight. However, OSA is not always caused by obesity. One of my nieces (5 years old) is of normal weight and has a mild case of OSA. A few years ago, the 10 year old son of a friend of mine (also of normal weight for his height) needed surgery for a deviated nasal septum after he was diagnosed with OSA. This also greatly alleviated his problem of being inattentive in school. The poor little guy was simply exhausted all the time. OSA was unknown in the 1960s, but my loud snoring and gasping whilst I was asleep was a topic of family conversation from the time I was 13 years old. (At age 15, I was 5' 10" tall [1m 72cm] and weighed 135 pounds [61kg]). This subject came up a few years ago here on SCOUTS-L, and there were a surprising number of folks here who have this medical condition and are still active in the outdoor program. I hope this message may be of some assistance to some Scouter out there who has OSA but is unaware of it. Yours in Scouting, Rodger Rodger Morris Asst. Scoutmaster, Troop 808 Wood Badge 416-18 Ventura County Council at Philmont, 1973 Camarillo, California, USA "I used to be a Beaver..." From <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Tue Feb 10 01:36:20 1998 Return-Path: <@tcuavm.is.tcu.edu:owner-scouts-l@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU> Received: from tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (TCUAVM.IS.TCU.EDU [138.237.128.148]) by cap1.CapAccess.org (8.6.12/8.6.10) with SMTP id BAA05839; Tue, 10 Feb 1998 01:36:20 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by tcuavm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 4475; Tue, 10 Feb 98 00:28:28 CDT Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 4956; Tue, 10 Feb 1998 00:29:16 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LISTSERV release 1.8b) with NJE id 4823 for SCOUTS-L@TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU; Tue, 10 Feb 1998 00:26:01 -0500 Received: from TCUBVM (NJE origin SMTP@TCUBVM) by TCUBVM.IS.TCU.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 4822; Mon, 9 Feb 1998 23:33:16 -0500 Received: from endeavor.flash.net by tcubvm.is.tcu.edu (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with TCP; Mon, 09 Feb 98 23:31:11 CDT Received: from Robyn (iasc6-27.flash.net [209.30.32.27]) by endeavor.flash.net (8.8.7/8.8.5) with SMTP id XAA05536 for ; Mon, 9 Feb 1998 23:27:29 -0600 (CST) X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.04 (Win95; U) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: <34DFE504.642E@flash.net> Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 23:26:28 -0600 Reply-To: John Yantis Sender: Scouts-L Youth Group List From: John Yantis Organization: Not Organized Subject: Re: Snoring To: Multiple recipients of list SCOUTS-L Status: RO X-Status: I used to be "the Scoutmaster that snores like a freight train". I thought it was mildly embarrassing, and sometimes amusing. Then I began developing other symptoms, notably excessive daytime sleepiness, loss of memory, and a hair-trigger anger. At the urging of my wife, I got tested in a sleep laboratory, and found that I have what turns out to be a very common, life-threatening disorder: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). This means that I don't just snore, but that the tissues in my throat that vibrate with my nighttime breathing (causing the noise), actually close my airway hundreds of times each night. I wasn't aware that I quit breathing, for sometimes up to 2 minutes, because I was asleep. But my sleep was fragmented due to the micro-arousals that my brain triggered when it noticed the lack of oxygen, and the lack of oxygen caused my blood pressure to gyrate wildly, and my heartbeat to do the same. No wonder I was tired all the time, forgetful, and irritable! I have found through research that the prevalence of OSA is reported as being 10-15% of the population, is higher in men (about 8 men for every 1 woman sufferer), gets higher with increasing age groups studied (some nursing-home populations are close to 80%), is very closely associated with being overweight (men's neck size 17 inches and higher), and is more common in Blacks. For a better description, and a simple diagnostic test, see the Phantom Sleep Page at http://www.newtechpub.com/phantom/ This site is advertising for a book, but it has a lot of other, very useful information (I'm not associated in any way with these folks). There's also a lot of friendly folk and good advice on the USENET at alt.support.sleep-disorder There is a fairly simple treatment, involving a breathing machine; I've been camping with mine for close to 2 years now (but no more backpacking - the battery is too heavy :( ) But I now get to sleep in our Troopsite, and not a football field away! My memory has returned, I no longer fight to stay awake in evening traffic, and my anger has mostly disappeared (I reserve what's left for District and Council professionals ;) ). My sleep doctor says that snoring of any severity is not healthy. (It's especially abnormal in children.) If you have a reputation for loud snoring, get your spouse (or tent-mate) to listen for times when you quit breathing altogether, followed by a loud snort or gasp. If you exhibit this behavior, or have several of the other symptoms or risk factors, get tested NOW. Untreated, most OSA sufferers die in their sleep of heart failure, and, up to very recently, the cause of death has been reported as undiagnosed heart disease (as was the case for my grandfather, my snoring role-model). The disease itself isn't new, but the understanding of its characteristics, consequences, and treatment is. Don't be surprised if your family doctor has never heard of it. You may have to look a while to find a board-certified sleep medicine doctor. YIS, John Yantis Scoutmaster, Troop 123 Longhorn Council (Ft. Worth, TX)