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HEALTH WATCH
Give Life A Fresh Breath
Heavy snoring is a sign of a sleep disorder that could lead to choking and
other health hazards
 Warning:
Deep sonorous snoring could be hazardous for your health. Far from
being an indicator of deep slumber, doctors now find that heavy snoring
is a harbinger of sleep apnea in which people literally choke in their
sleep. A quarter of all snorers are affected and most don't even realise
it, says Dr J.C. Suri, president of the Indian Sleep Disorders Association,
and head of sleep medicine department at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital.
At best this means a person is excessively sleepy during the day, cannot
concentrate, suffers memory lapses and is extremely irritable or even
depressed. At worst, it can result in high blood pressure and a tenfold
increase in the risk of heart attacks and strokes, lead to hormonal changes
that complicate treatment of diabetes, affect growth in children, cause
impotency in men and menstrual irregularities in women. Studies have shown
that sleep apnea is twice as likely as drunk driving to lead to accidents.
"Sleep, far from resting, is the most essential
and active time for the brain," says Suri. The muscles of the body
droop and lose tone. This includes the tongue, which falls backwards towards
the throat. The muscles in the throat too relax and crush the windpipe.
So the passage for air is blocked. People with narrower passages get choked.
When less oxygen gets into the lungs, the brain, sensing danger, signals
the person to wake up for a few seconds to pull the muscles back long
enough to allow air flow. Then the person returns to sleep-unaware of
the phenomenon, and the cycle repeats itself. "It's as if someone
is throttling you in sleep hundreds of times during the night," explains
Dr Vikram Sarabhai of Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, Delhi.
The patient wakes up feeling exhausted. Alcohol and drugs can be fatal
in sleep apnea as the sedated body cannot respond to the wake-up signals.
There is no cure. The most common treatment
includes a mask-cum-machine called CPAP (Continuous Positive Air Pressure)
which forces air through the block, and costs around Rs 50,000. Surgeries
can be complicated, extensive, and not always effective. Dental appliances
can hold the tongue forward but do not score high on comfort. In less
severe cases, reducing weight and sleeping on one's side can minimise
sleep apnea-and infuse a fresh breath to life.
—Supriya Bezbaruah
IN SMALL DOSES
 Sniffing
It Right In: It's no good trying to entice a patient of Parkinson's
disease with the delicious aroma of his favourite food-he cannot smell.
This often leads to a disinterest in food and therefore poor nutrition.
Doctors had assumed this was because the disease destroyed the nerves
involved in smelling. Now scientists have found that the reason is far
simpler. It's not that they can't smell, it's that they don't smell because
they don't breathe hard enough to bring adequate air with sufficient pressure
into their noses to detect odours. Reversing this is quite simple-a good
hard sniff will pull the odour right in.
 Viral
Boost: Don't despair when your baby has a runny nose-it could be a
sign of future good health. A European study of more than 1,300 children
in the 0-7 age group showed that a child with two or more cases of runny
nose before its first birthday halves the risk of getting asthma. Reason:
repeated viral infections, other than respiratory ones, early in life
boost the immune system, thereby reducing the risk of asthma.
 Fat
Blocks the Brain: Love burgers, french fries and fatty food? You could
be battering not just your body but the brain too. A recent series of
experiments on rats shows that a high-fat diet severely impairs memory
and the ability to learn, even as it increases cardiac risks. Feeding
glucose or carbohydrate can overcome this disability to a certain extent.
Glucose provides energy for the brain to function. But fats block the
process of glucose metabolism, clogging the energy flow to the brain.
As a result, high-energy activities like memory and learning suffer. And
to think those fries look so harmless.
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