Snorers In The Night

By Dr. Herm Valenzuela

Some weeks ago Zack asked me to open some lines of commo for our Halo-Halo Bistro blog previoulsly known as Minyong's Halo-Halo Stand. He suggested a piece on snoring so, here it is- I hope you won't find this boring! I haven't edited and fine-tuned my poignant tale about The Song of Ruth yet.

Mykonos Island (many years ago): In Greek mythology, Lodine was a beautiful godess who fell in love but was spurned by a fisherman (no, his name was not Hermes). She got enraged and cast a spell on him that if he sleeps, he will die. This is called central sleep apnea (Lodine's curse) and the chap died in his sleep. This maybe a factor in SIDS- sudden infant death syndrome. Hundred Islands, Summer of '66: Juanito R. from Alaminos (Greg's friend from NTC) arranged a vacation for fun and frolics for a few days in the sand. So, in the day, we sang and danced and horse-played in the sun. But the nights were a different matter. Nobody was able to sleep 'cause Johnny was constantly snoring- his mouth was bubbling with salivary froth with hi-pitched wheezing and gargling (I'm not making this up-ask Greg,the Batoy) so loud the bats from the cavernous rock flew out scared. Several times Johnny would shake like he was having convulsions followed by body rigors then his body became limp- I got scared (I was not going to do a M-to-M resuscitation on him) and moved to the leeward side of the island (No Loi, my "Susan" was not with me). The next days the terns and seagulls did not fly back to the island! El Jefe did not accompany us the next Summer.

It is estimated that 4% of adult women and 8% of men snores in their sleep. But the incidence of OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) rises dramatically in various Sleep Study Clinics. Not all persons who snores have OSA but those who do snores. How can you tell ? Their neck is usually 18 inches in circumference with double chins, waist over 40 inches wide and their BMI is 42 or more. We call this condition moribound obesity- they will die soon! I ride the public busses almost everyday (for free in NYC) and don't see anyone over the age of 65 that I suspect having OSA riding the bus or walking in the streets- they're all dead!

Here's why: When one sleeps, the tongue falls back and with a wide and compressed neck plus the tonsillar glands and adenoids in the throat including the uvula- the structure that hangs down from the roof of the palate, make the upper airways smaller by at least 75 % This is like somebody's hands choking your neck 3/4ths off air input! The brain will not get enough air, so the person gasps bringing in some air and sleeps again but the process repeats itself sometimes 100 times in a sequence. Daylight comes and the person feels s/he did not get enough sleep so s/he will be groggy when going to work. New Jersey passed a law (Sarah's Law) revoking one's driver's liscence if one has OSA. Megan's Law is for sex offenders. Virgil A just attended his nephew's funeral when he was crushed (in a secondary street) of Newark A/Port by a FedEx truck driver while his nephew was driving four stewardeses to Marriot hotel. Virgil was told that the FedEx driver fell asleep in the wheels.

These are the metabolic events in OSA:

-Cerebral hypoxia develops causing mental dullness

-Cardiovascular events (including hypertension) that may lead to heart attacks and strokes.

-Electrolyte (specially potassium) disturbances occur that lead to irregular hear beats and rhythm.

-Sluggish nerve response and muscle weakness that decrease physical stamina.

-Impotence and anhydonia (lack of sexual pleasure in women).

-Irritability and overall change in personality.

-URTInfections and/or pneumonia- because the salivary secretions could pass down the trachea or the person vomits and goes to the lungs.

-Alcoholism- because they drink to excess so they can sleep.

I wonder if Johnny R. is still alive.

Hermie