The Sleep Center
at Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center

October, 2006-- Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremonies were held Oct. 31 for a new Sleep Center at Twin Lakes Regional Medical Center. Dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders, the Sleep Center is located on the second floor of the Kelley Medical Center at the hospital. Pulmonology and Sleep Specialist, Michael Zachek, M.D., is the center's director. For more information on the Sleep Center and its services, call 270-259-1623.

Sleep Center Photo Gallery

Sleep is an active state important for renewing our mental and physical health each day. However, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), more than 100 million Americans of all ages fail to get a good night's sleep.

At least 84 disorders of sleeping and waking lead to a lowered quality of life and reduced personal health. These disorders can lead to problems falling asleep and staying asleep, difficulties staying awake or staying with a regular sleep/wake cycle, sleepwalking, bedwetting, nightmares, and other problems that interfere with sleep. Some sleep disorders can be life-threatening.

INSOMNIA. Trouble falling asleep or staying asleep--commonly termed insomnia--plagues one in three American adults. Insomnia can occur in people of all ages, usually just for a night or two, but sometimes for weeks, months, or even years. Insomnia is most common among women and older adults. It can disturb your waking, as well as your sleeping, hours. It can make you feel fatigued during the day or have trouble focusing on tasks. Transient Insomnia is the inability to sleep well over a period of a few nights, but lasts less than four weeks. This type of insomnia is usually brought on by excitement or stress. Short-Term Insomnia refers to periods of ongoing stress at work or at home resulting in four weeks to six months of poor sleep. When the stressful situation eases up, or when the sleeper adjusts to it, sleep will usually return to normal. Chronic Insomnia refers to poor sleep every night or most nights for more than six months. More than 20 million Americans complain of chronic insomnia. While most insomniacs worry about their sleep, it's wrong to blame all troubled sleep on worrying. According to a nationwide study by the Association of Sleep Disorders Centers, physical ailments--such as disorders of breathing or muscle activity--are often mistaken for insomnia and may account for a large number of self-diagnosed cases of insomnia.

NARCOLEPSY. One in 2,000 people have it. Its impact on a person's life can be significant, even disabling. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder defined by constant sleepiness and a tendency to sleep at inappropriate times. Although the exact cause is not known, it appears to be a disorder of the part of the brain that controls sleep and wakefulness. Typically, a person with narcolepsy suffers sleep attacks as well as continual sleepiness and a feeling of tiredness that is not completely relieved by any amount of sleep. If not recognized and appropriately managed, narcolepsy can drastically and negatively affect the quality of a person's life. Recent advances in medicine, technology, and pharmacology are helping healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat this condition. Although a cure for narcolepsy has not yet been found, most people with the disorder can lead nearly normal lives under proper treatment.
(Source, The American Academy of Sleep Medicine)

SLEEP APNEA. The Greek word "apnea" literally means "without breath." There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; of the three, obstructive is the most common. Despite the difference in the root cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer. Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. In Central Sleep Apnea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe. Mixed Apnea, as the name implies, is a combination of the two. With each apnea event, the brain briefly arouses people with sleep apnea in order for them to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality.

Sleep apnea is very common, as common as adult diabetes, and affects more than twelve million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health. Risk factors include being male, overweight, and over the age of forty, but sleep apnea can strike anyone at any age, even children. Yet still because of the lack of awareness by the public and healthcare professionals, the vast majority remain undiagnosed and therefore untreated, despite the fact that this serious disorder can have significant consequences. Untreated, sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches. Moreover, untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle crashes. Fortunately, sleep apnea can be diagnosed and treated. Several treatment options exist, and research into additional options continues.
(Source, The American Sleep Apnea Association)

SNORING. Forty-five percent of normal adults snore at least occasionally, and 25 percent are habitual snorers. Problem snoring is more frequent in males and overweight persons, and it usually grows worse with age. What causes snoring? The noisy sounds of snoring occur when there is an obstruction to the free flow of air through the passages at the back of the mouth and nose. This area is the collapsible part of the airway where the tongue and upper throat meet the soft palate and uvula. Snoring occurs when these structures strike each other and vibrate during breathing.

People who snore may suffer from:

• Poor muscle tone in the tongue and throat-- when muscles are too relaxed, the tongue falls backwards into the airway or the throat muscles draw in from the sides into the airway.

• Excessive bulkiness of throat tissue-- children with large tonsils and adenoids often snore and overweight people have bulky neck tissue.

• Long soft palate and/or uvula-- a long palate narrows the opening from the nose into the throat. As it dangles, it acts as a noisy flutter valve during relaxed breathing. A long uvula makes matters even worse.

• Obstructed nasal airways-- A stuffy or blocked nose requires extra effort to pull air through it. This creates an exaggerated vacuum in the throat, and pulls together the floppy tissues of the throat, and snoring results. So, snoring often occurs only during the hay fever season or with a cold or sinus infection.

• Also, deformities of the nose or nasal septum, such as a deviated septum (a deformity of the all that separates one nostril from the other) can cause such as obstruction.