Sleep Apnea

Sleep Apnea

Sleep, why do people sleep at all? Why can't we just stay awake? Some

biologist suggest that sleep provides the opportunity to conduct self-repair and

purge the body of it's waste that has built up during the day's activity.

Nevertheless, the body is capable of repairing itself and disposing of wastes

during waking hours, so sleep in a way really isn't necessary for routine

maintenance (e.g., urinating, etc.). Dr. Quentin Regestein, lead sleep and sleep

disorders researcher at Harvard Medical School also believed that sleep kept our

distant ancestors out of harms way during the night when they could not see as

well as their night roaming predators.

Sleep is regulated by a connected series of structures in the deep midline

areas, and along other way stations that extend through the central axis of the

brain, these structures relay information about things that affect sleep. In Dr.

Regestein notes, he spoke of experiments that were performed by researchers.

The researchers he spoke of would destroy specific brain structures of a lab

animal and then note how the animal slept. For instances, in one lab animal

the researcher cut through the axis of the brain at one level, which would

prevented the animal from awakening; showing that brain structures below the

level of the cut were responsible for awakening the lab animal.

The American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA), Association for the

Psychophysiological Study of Sleep (APSS), Association of Sleep Disorder Centers

(ASDC), and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has studied sleep and

sleep disorders since the early 1970's. Out of all the sleep disorders

currently being studied, sleep apnea has gain world wide attention, affecting

over 15 million people. Apnea, derived from the Greek word "want to breath."

Sleep Apnea (cessation of air flow at the mouth for greater than 10 seconds) can

reflect 1) loss of central nervous system drive to maintain ventilation, 2)

mechanical upper airway obstruction, or combinations of both. The second

edition of Anesthesia and Co-Existing Disease states "Conversely, obstructive

forms of sleep apnea are due to an abnormal relaxation of the posterior

pharyngeal muscles" - there is persistence of respiratory movements, but airflow

is absent due to upper airway obstruction. Study shows awakening occurs when the

arterial partial pre...

... middle of paper ...

...p because of a sleep disorder like sleep apnea

can eventually lead to interruption of daily task and human survival is greatly

reduced. Many people choose to prognosis themselves as to why they are having

trouble sleeping. Researchers urge patients with a unbalanced sleep pattern to

seek professional help.

"Five billion people go through the cycle of sleep and wakefulness every day,

and relatively few of them know the joy of being fully rested and fully alert

all day long."

- William Dement (1988)

References

Arthur J. Speilman, Phd.D., and Paul B. Glovinsky, Ph.D.

- Department of Psychology. The City College of New York

Pinellas Public Library Cooperative, Inc. - InfoTrac System

- Largo, Florida

Drs. Robert K. Stoelting, Stephen F. Dierdorf , and Richard L. McCammon.

-Second Edition / Anesthesia and Co-Existing Disease

John P. Dworetzky

- Psychology / Fifth Edition

Dr. Quentin Regestein - lead sleep researcher, Harvard Medical School

- Sleep problems and solutions

Dr. Scott Mantel - Anesthesiologist

- Morton Plant Hospital, Department of Anesthesiology

Dr. Paul Borelli - Anesthesiologist

- Morton Plant Hospital, Department of Anesthesiology