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Sleep disorder business growing rapidly in the Dayton area
U.S. estimates show 40,000 people suffer from sleep disorders and at least that many more are undiagnosed.
Related article: Sleep apnea costly if untreated
Sunday, June 22, 2008
CENTERVILLE — Several local hospitals have sleep-disorder centers, but their beds aren't 59-1/2 feet from the parking lot.
"I measured it myself," said Jerry O'Ryan, the principal owner of Physician Sleep Diagnostic Centers. With two doctors as minority owners, it is part of the boom in accredited sleep centers. Counting hospitals, their number mushroomed from 300 in 1996 to more than 1,500, with outpatient centers growing fastest.
"They're convenient. You don't have the risk of hospital infections and you won't get treated like a sick person," said O'Ryan, a respiratory therapist. "There's a little more mom-and-pop feel here."
Sleep disorders are increasing, with U.S. estimates of 40,000 confirmed and at least that many more undiagnosed. Nearly half of them have sleep apnea — they repeatedly stop breathing when throat muscles relax enough for the airway to collapse. That can lead to strokes, heart failure, diabetes, depression and car crashes.
Those consequences make suspicion of sleep apnea the most common reason people spend a night hooked up to electrodes while a stranger watches them.
"Often, it's the sleep partner who notices," said Dr. Daniel Whitman, a Beavercreek family practitioner who sends patients to O'Ryan's center. "They'll be the ones who hear the gasping, snorting efforts to breathe at night."
Obesity is the main risk factor. "A big, fat neck causes pressure on the airway," Whitmer said. "As the population gets more obese, we're going to keep seeing sleep apnea."
The first diagnostic step is a brief questionnaire that asks about snoring, daytime fatigue and high blood pressure. Those answers and a sleep doctor's exam determine the need for a sleep evaluation.
A trained technician pastes electrodes to the head, forehead, chin, nose, finger and chest of a patient in normal sleepwear. A computer monitors how often and how long the patient stops breathing.
About half of O'Ryan's patients have apnea that needs treatment. "It's very treatable," Whitmer said. For many, it's enough just to lose weight or stop sleeping on their backs.
There also are dental devices, throat surgery or continuous-positive-airway-pressure (CPAP) machines, which keep the airway open by forcing air through tight masks.
"Treatment can dramatically change a person's overall health," Whitmer said. "I had someone this week tell me he never felt better. He has more energy, he's not falling asleep at his desk at work anymore and his headaches are gone."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2129 or klamb@DaytonDailyNews.com.
