SNORING may well be an irritating habit but it can also be a sign of something far more serious.

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) has only been identified in the last ten years and can mean poor health, severe sleepiness and lack of concentration.

Bury's hospitals are at the forefront of treating the condition with consultant physician Dr Kevin Jones and his sleep lab at the helm.

The syndrome is common, affecting up to three per cent of all men. It is mainly found in people who have a large neck. When asleep the muscles in the throat relax and in some people this causes the throat to close, blocking off the wind-pipe and making a snoring sound.

Dr Jones said: "Everyone who snores does have this collapse but it is the severity of the collapse which determines whether they have OSA."

The temporary block of the airways wakes the snorer up and it is this constant waking that leads to all sorts of problems - some people wake as often as 40 times in a 20 minute period of sleep. Sufferers have a drop in blood oxygen levels. Disruptive sleep leads to repeated dozing during the day and less obviously to raised blood pressure.

"It can be a real problem severely affecting their everyday life and well-being. People feel lethargic and fall asleep doing everyday things - even while driving," said Dr Jones.

With the help of the Brunskill Trust Dr Jones set up a sleep lab at Bury General three years ago.

Benefactress Miss Marian Brunskill of Greenmount died in June 1992 leaving the £1.2 million residue of her estate to be administered by trustees for the benefit of worthy causes.

Patients spend a night in the lab hooked up to a machine that measures blood oxygen levels and pulse as well as recording how many times the patient wakes up. The patient is also filmed with an infra red camera and tape recorded. The information is than analysed by the computer which gives a detailed print-out identifying whether the patient needs treatment. Over three years there have been 416 sleep studies and 30 people diagnosed with OSA.

Treatment is straightforward and effective. The patient takes home a continuous positive airways pressure machine (CPAP) which blows air though the nose while they are asleep. This keeps the throat open and stops the sufferer continually waking up.

Dr Jones says patients who have been treated in this way report a dramatic improvement in their quality of life: "The equipment may be a bit uncomfortable at first but it changes patients' lives. They no longer doze off all the time, feel better and can enjoy life.

"I think there are many people in Bury who just think they are sleepy people who may have this problem. If you snore and tend to doze off during the day it might be worth checking out."

Dr Jones advises anyone who thinks they have the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnoea should contact their GPs.

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