Snoring: The thief that goes ZZZZZZ in the night
Snoring can rob you of your life and your family. For Bill Garlitz of Medford, this couldn't be more true. Snoring was compromising his private and professional life and keeping him from the people he loved: "My snoring was so bad that I couldn't even sleep in the same room as my wife. During the day, I was so tired that I had to struggle to stay awake; I even had trouble driving."
Other than earplugs, what can you do?
A good night's sleep isn't just a dream
Other than earplugs, what can you do?
At the request of his family, Garlitz went to his primary care physician who referred him to one of Virtua Health's SleepCare™ Centers. The centers' staff offer medical evaluation and a full range of diagnostic testing, including sleep studies that measure heart rate, brain waves, breathing, eye and muscle movements, and oxygen levels. The SleepCare staff monitored Garlitz overnight to determine the cause of his snoring. After the second night of testing, he was diagnosed with upper airway resistance syndrome.
"Upper airway resistance syndrome occurs when the body has to work harder to force air through the narrow passageway of the throat. This extra effort can slightly arouse a person from sleep several times through the night, resulting in daytime sleepiness," says Kathleen Ryan, MD, a board-certified sleep specialist and director of Virtua Health's SleepCare Centers at Lumberton and Cherry Hill.
A good night's sleep isn't just a dream
To treat Garlitz, Dr. Ryan prescribed continuous positive airway pressure or CPAP. Worn while sleeping, this specially designed nasal mask is connected to a small air compressor that pushes air into the mask. As an individual breathes while wearing this mask, the flow of air creates enough pressure to keep the airway open. "As soon as I started using the device, I noticed a difference," says Garlitz. "Of course, the best benefit was that my wife, Kelly, let me sleep in the same room with her again."
But, getting a restful sleep did even more — it improved Garlitz's overall quality of life. "My kids are involved in everything, which means I'm involved in everything. I'm coaching their sports teams, and I'm a den leader for their scout troops. I'm thrilled that I have the energy to be involved in their lives."