Hi, I'm Paula a RPSGT (Registered Polysomnographic Technologist). There are less than 11,000 RPSGT in the world. It is a hard Registry because to you must be proficient in Respiratory, Neuorology and Cardiology---and probably be able to wire a house! I have worked in Sleep Medicine for several years now. Before that I worked in Respiratory Therapy and Cardiology. I now work in Sleep Medicine and Neuodiagnostics in a hospital setting.

Boomers go through a lot of body changes as we "Bloom" . Sleep Apnea is one of the major conditions that gives us less quality of life and takes years off of our life--it is estimated 10-15 years and I think we all want those. Our anatomy begins to listen to gravity and the area around our neck changes--we snore louder, we feel tired and have headaches the next day. Aside from that we may develop high blood pressure, heart disease and gain weight. We become "a pot of misery" and our energy level is nil. That is if we have developed Sleep Apnea. What is happening?!

First, as we grow older or "bloom" as I like to refer to it, we tend to gain weight and our muscle tone becomes a little looser, especially in the neck region. That extra, loose tissue falls into our airway and sometimes other parts of the anatomy such as the tongue, obstructing our intake of oxygen. When our airway becomes obstructed, some people actually stop breathing. If it is for 10 seconds or over---it is what we call an "apnea". Some people can have literally 100's of these a night. When this happens oxygen decreases and the heart has to pump faster to try to supply the need to other organs. If organs do not get the proper amount of oxygen they start degenerating---wearing out and having problems which does not help the aging process at all. Worse, people start to develop cardiovascular diseases, arrythmias of the heart and a host of other problems. Oxygen levels can go very low in people with severe sleep apnea. If you witness a person snoring loudly and suddenly they just "stop" for several seconds or minutes it appears they are not breathing and suddenly they either wake or abruptly start loud snoring again. Guess what, they probably weren't breathing---their airway was probably blocked. This condition can go to mild to life threatening and it is best to catch it early. Weight often is a factor but thin people can have sleep apnea too. There are some apneas that originate from other places than an obstructed airway.

On top of that your body really never rests because when you oxygen levels fall your body awakens you (arouses you)---a way of telling you to breathe and get the oxygen levels up. You never have time to get into the truly restful Delta and REM sleep. Then when you awake in the morning, you feel tired because you have not reached those levels of sleep and may have a headache because of your oxygen desaturation. Then throughout the day you are tired and drowsy at different times. Take the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, a screening tool, and see how you do.

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale in an prescreening indicator of Sleep Apnea and other sleep disorders. 0-9 is considered normal by most Sleep Specialists and 10 and above abnormal. If your test is borderline, take it to your doctor anyway if you are having any of the symptoms and let him evaluate if he wants to do further testing. Testing is simple and painless. It could save your life or add years to your life and the successful treatment is life altering. It is just not the length of our years but also the quality of those years that makes them even more enjoyable.