health for your
Taking your
breath away
Sleep apnea
can hurt more than
a night’s sleep
MEDIA BAKERY
Learn more
COMMON SYMPTOMS
of sleep apnea:
■ Daytime sleepiness
(hypersomnia)
■ Headaches
■ Reflux
■ Brain fog
■ Memory problems
■ Weight gain
If you think you
have symptoms of sleep
apnea or you think your
bed partner does, see
your primary-care physi-
cian. Other things can
make you feel tired
besides sleep apnea, so
it’s important to have a
good checkup.
By Chrystle Fiedler
TEN YEARS AGO Paul Vachon was finding it hard
to stay awake during the day. “I was working as a
menswear salesman and a delivery person for the
Detroit Free Press, and I often nodded off during
meetings at work,” says Costco member Vachon,
now 51, of Oak Park, Michigan. “It was really
embarrassing.” Not knowing what was causing it, he
spoke to his internist, who referred him to a pulmonary specialist, who scheduled a sleep study. The
diagnosis? Sleep apnea.
Vachon is among approximately 12 million
people in the United States who have sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea (apnea means “without
breath” in Greek) happens when the soft tissue in
the rear of the throat collapses and closes during
sleep, blocking off the airway.
“Obstructive sleep apnea [OSA] is a disorder
where you actually stop breathing at least 30 times
an hour while you are sleeping,” says Bernie Miller,
a registered supervisor at the Mayo Clinic Hospital
Sleep Disorders Center in Phoenix, Arizona. “This
means that your sleep becomes very fragmented. It’s
not restful or restorative.”
One of the biggest clues to whether you have
OSA is if you are consistently sleepy during the day
(hypersomnia) or if you snore. Risk factors include
being a man, being overweight (although thin peo-
ple have it too) and being 40 or older, but anyone
can get it, at any age.
How sleep apnea affects your health
Sleep apnea can have a profound effect on your
health and well-being, causing everything from
memory problems to weight gain to headaches. It
may even impair your ability to work or drive. Even
worse, those with sleep apnea have approximately a
five times greater risk of heart attack and stroke than
everyone else, says Miller. In fact, research conducted at the Mayo Clinic and published in the
Journal of the American College of Cardiology in July
2009 showed that patients with obstructive sleep
apnea were six times more likely to have had a heart
attack between midnight and 6 a.m. than during the
rest of the day.
Sleep apnea also boosts the risk of high blood
pressure. A study conducted at the Johns Hopkins
School of Public Health and published in the April
2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical
Association showed that those who suffered from
moderate to severe sleep apnea were at increased
risk of having hypertension.
Identifying the problem
Even though you may have sleep apnea, chances
are good you don’t know it. Often, it’s the spouse or
bed partner who realizes there is a problem. “My
wife complained for years about my extremely loud
snoring,” says Vachon. (Snoring actually irritates the
airway and causes inflammation, which makes sleep
The Costco Connection
Costco and Costco.com carry nasal strips,
over-the-counter and prescription sleep aids, and
a variety of specialty mattresses and pillows to
help you rest.
