TIPS ON GETTING A GOOD NIGHT'S REST Something To Help You Breathe Easier (NAPSA)—Now you can rest easy if you’re having sleep problems. A new procedure lets sleep apnea sufferers finally get a good night’s sleep. Perhaps you get eight hours of sleep but still wake up tired. Your partner may say you snore loudly and stop breathing several times during the night. Maybe you feel lethargic or exhausted during the day. These could be signs that you are one of the 12 million Ameri- cans who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a life-threatening condition that has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and even stroke. OSAcan be caused bytissue at the back of the throat relaxing during sleep and blockingtheairway. This causes the sufferer to wake up gasping, several times per hour, to resume normal breathing. The sufferer, usually unaware of waking up, feels tired and drained without understanding why. “I was so exhausted that it was affecting my ability to get through a lecture without feeling like I was going to fall flat on my face,” says Phyllis Gernhardt, a college professor from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Gernhardt was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea and was prescribed a mask that’s worn during sleep and applies air pressure to the throat, preventing it from collapsing and blocking breathing. “T hated wearing a mask, but my doctor said my only other option was painful surgery, which cut out tissue in my mouth and throat and had only a 50 percent chance of helping,” she said. That’s when Gernhardt heard about the Pillar Procedure from Restore Medical. The Pillar Proce- 7 @ Untreated sleep apnea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle crashes. dure is an FDA-cleared, low-risk treatment for people suffering from mild to moderate OSA. The procedure, usually done on an outpatient basis, implants three tiny inserts into the soft palate in the roof of the mouth. Within a few weeks, the tissue around the inserts becomes firmer, preventing the palate from drooping during sleep andblocking the airway. “The Pillar Procedureis truly a breakthrough therapy,” said Michael Friedman, a physician at the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago. “It offers a safe, effective treatment, and patients are usually back to normal activities and diet the sameday.” The Pillar Procedure has been cleared by the FDA for sleep apnea and snoring. For more information or to find a physician, visit www.pillarprocedure.com.
