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While reviewing a stack of medical records from incoming guests a few months ago, Dr. Sam Judah Sugar, MD, FACP, who joined the medical staff at Pritikin in 2005, noticed something peculiar.
A whopping 80% of guests reported that they had trouble getting a good night’s sleep. Not surprisingly, many also complained of problems caused by sleep loss, such as daytime fatigue, irritability, headaches, and foggy thinking.
Dr. Sugar, experienced in sleep disorders, became concerned. "If you don't sleep well, you can't get well," says the board certified internist of 33 years and Associate Professor of Medicine at Rush University College of Medicine in Chicago.
Sleep Disorders and Obesity
"What many people don't realize is that sleep disorders and obesity go hand-in-hand." And it's a Catch-22. Excess weight can cause problems, like sleep apnea, which rob you of sleep, but it's difficult to lose weight if you're sleep deprived.
"Research has shown that if you take people who normally get a healthy eight hours of sleep a night and then purposely wake them up three hours earlier every night, hormonal disturbances occur that put on pounds,” explains Dr. Sugar. "In just weeks, Leptin, the hormone that tells the brain, 'You're full, you can stop eating,’ decreases by 15%. And Graelin, the hormone that signals, 'You’re really hungry, you need to eat,' increases by 15%."
The good news, counsels Dr. Sugar and the entire physician team at Pritikin, is that getting back to a good night's sleep calms hormonal disturbances. No longer is your body fighting against you. Losing weight gets easier. Plus, a good night's sleep lessens fatigue, so you're more likely to exercise, which certainly promotes weight loss.
New Sleep Services Program
To help people struggling with sleep problems, the physicians at Pritikin have established a Sleep Services Program that identifies, diagnoses, and treats sleep disorders, particularly a serious one called obstructive sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea
Dr. Thomas Rice, FACP, Medical Director at Pritikin, explains that people don't sleep well for several reasons, including restless leg syndrome and menopausal hot flashes, but the most serious chronic problem, posing the greatest risk, is sleep apnea.
What's heartening is that the new Sleep Services Program controls the symptoms of sleep apnea very quickly – often in 48 hours. Patients tell their Pritikin physicians that their lives have changed immeasurably. They're well rested. They can think clearly. They leave Pritikin feeling great.
If you have sleep apnea, you literally stop breathing during sleep for anywhere from 15 seconds to more than a minute - and it can happen hundreds of times in one night. Each time, you emit a gasping, explosive sound as you struggle to recover, often unaware you're doing it.
Chances are, your bedmate is well aware of these episodes, and fears you may never recover, "which is a very real fear," states Dr. Sugar. "Sleep apnea is a leading cause of right heart failure and sudden death in the U.S."
Neck Size Greater Than 17.5 Inches
The sleep disorder happens because the soft tissues of the mouth and palate fall back, temporarily blocking the breathing passages. A major risk factor for sleep apnea is excess weight. One of the simplest predictors of sleep apnea is a neck size greater than 17.5 inches.
Getting Thinner
"While there are many approaches to dealing with the problem, including surgery, the real treatment for sleep apnea is the Pritikin Program because it promotes long-term weight loss," points out Dr. Sugar. "As soon as you lose 10 to 15% of excess body weight, your apnea improves and sometimes even disappears.
“But shedding pounds takes time, and sleep deprivation hampers weight loss efforts. So in our Sleep Services Program we physicians provide aids that immediately control the suffocating symptoms of sleep apnea. Sleeping well, people’s chances of losing weight improve substantially."
No Sleep Clinics or Discomfort
To diagnose sleep apnea, people normally need to spend the night in sleep clinics for special testing, "which, of course, is a pain in the neck," says Dr. Sugar.
In the Sleep Services Program at Pritikin, overnight testing is conveniently set up in guests' hotel rooms. Explains Dr. Sugar, “The Snoring and Apnea testing profile we use gives us all the information needed to correlate low blood oxygen levels with defective breathing and establish a diagnosis.”
If you test positive, you can be fitted the following day with a CPAP, which stands for "continuous positive airway pressure." It's an air pump that very effectively maintains air flow while you sleep.
Personalized Instruction
“Our program is unique for what happens after diagnosis,” states Dr. Sugar. “Rather than handing patients a machine and simply hoping they use it correctly, our therapists provide one-on-one instruction to assure that the machine fits, is used properly, and doesn’t just gather dust at the patient’s home.” When guests leave Pritikin, they have the option of purchasing their CPAP machines at a tremendous discount.
Many guests find they don’t need their CPAPs for long. "Once they've lost about 10% of their body weight, they’re breathing well all on their own. They’re no longer relying on the CPAP 'crutch,'" observes Dr. Sugar.
“Best of all, they’re enjoying the countless other benefits of weight loss, which, of course, is what the Pritikin Program is all about. Our new Sleep Services Program simply helps you realize these benefits more quickly - and more easily."
For more information about the new Sleep Services Program, call Pritikin at 800.327.4914 or 305.935.7131.
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