Get answers to sleep questions at open house

Do you go to bed early only to wake up feeling tired? Are you constantly nudged in the night by an impatient spouse because you are snoring? Do you fight nodding off in the middle of the afternoon?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you could have sleep apnea. This medical disorder causes a person to stop breathing for varying periods of time while sleeping, which results in fragmented sleep and a general lack of rest.

Obstructive sleep apnea is the more common type, occurring when there is a blockage of the airway, typically when the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses during sleep. Some people report having a very sore and dry throat in the morning.

A friend’s husband actually used to wake himself up by choking and gasping for air. As frightening as these episodes are to the listening spouse, sleep interruptions like this can be detrimental to the sleeper’s health as well. They can lead to medical problems including hypertension, stroke, heart failure, irregular heartbeats and heart attacks. Untreated sleep apnea also can cause memory problems, weight gain, mood changes, and headaches.

Aging can cause changes in sleep patterns. While sleep apnea does not practice age discrimination – anyone can be afflicted – middle-aged men and postmenopausal women are more often bothered by it.

For example, older people sleep less, experience more fragmented sleep and spend less time in a deep sleep and in the dream state of sleep known as REM than younger people do.

Sleep apnea is not rare – in fact it is as common as adult diabetes and affects more than 12 million Americans, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Regardless of age, a good, solid, restorative sleep is essential to physical health and emotional well-being.

So if any of this sounds familiar, here is your chance to see if sleep apnea is keeping you up nights. Remember, being tired can affect every part of your life and, most likely, your relationships. Usually with sleep deprivation comes crankiness.

Fortunately, when sleep apnea is properly diagnosed, there are several treatment options available. If you’d like to know more, the Sleep Center of Maine will hold an open house 3-7 p.m. Thursday, March 30, at 290 State St. There will be experts on hand to share the latest treatments and give tours of the facility.

The Sleep Center of Maine is operated by Eastern Maine Medical Center. St. Joseph Healthcare offers a Center for Sleep Medicine.

The DASH – Disability and Aging Services Helpline – Network is having a fun-filled informational fair 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, March 31, at the Bangor Civic Center.

Among the participants are Eastern Agency on Aging, United Way, Triad, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, RossCare Center for Healthy Aging, BAT Community Connector bus, Alpha One, the Alzheimer’s Association, Technical Exploration Center and the Senior Companion program, just to name a few.

Admittance is free, and there will be delicious refreshments throughout the day along with giveaways and door prizes.

“This is really a fair for everyone,” said Val Sauda, director of outreach and the DASH at EAA. “We would like to see seniors, people with disabilities, caregivers and anyone else who would like information about what services are available in this area. And you never know when you or someone you love will need help.”

As if this were not enough fun, there will be interesting 30-minute presentations on topics such as nutrition and diabetes, Medicare D, Alzheimer’s and caregiving.

So check out the Sleep Center’s open house Thursday night and come to the DASH fair the next day. Bring a bag to take home all the information you’ll surely collect.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA, call 941-2865, e-mail www.eaaa.org, or log on www.eaaa.org.