Regis Philbin Has Obstructive Sleep Apnea

August 15, 2009

Regis Philbin, the well-known talk show celebrity, just announced on The View that he is using CPAP for his newly diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea. It’s also known that he has heart disease and has undergone heart bypass surgery in the past.

With all the known cause and effect links between untreated sleep apnea and heart disease, it’s appalling that not every person with heart disease is screened for obstructive sleep apnea. Yes, routine overnight sleep studies are cumbersome and expensive, but there are much more convenient and inexpensive ways to screen for people at high risk.

For example, in the long distance trucking industry, certain companies have started routine screening protocols which has been shown to dramatically cut down accident rates and sustained injuries. Unfortunately, not all trucking companies have instituted such policies. Regulatory government agencies are now working on some kind of mandatory screening program.

More recently, both the captain and the copilot of a Hawaiian commuter jet reportedly fell asleep and lost contact with the local air control center for about 20 minutes. The captain was eventually found to have undiagnosed severe obstructive sleep apnea.

It would be nice if the celebrities that have obstructive sleep apnea can use their star status to spread the message about the importance of looking for sleep apnea first if you have hypertension, heart disease, or depression.

Rosie O’ Donnell revealed the fact that she’s also on CPAP, and the general public got more educated. If we can get more famous talk show celebrities (Oprah?) to wake up to their undiagnosed sleep-breathing problem, we can save countless more lives.

Written by Steven Park · Filed Under Blog | 1 Comment

The Common Link Between Billy Mays, Tim Russert, Reggie White, And Oprah?

July 14, 2009

The recent untimely death of OxiClean pitchman Billy Mays due to a heart attack brought up memories of Tim Russert, moderator of NBC’s Meet The Press, and Reggie White, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker. They all died at a relatively young age. The sad thing is that after all the media coverage, people are not changing their health habits one bit.

One common situation that I see in anyone who had either a heart attack or a stroke at a relatively young age is the very high prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea. It’s estimated that about 1/4 of all men will have at least some amount of obstructive sleep apnea, and that about 80% of these men are not diagnosed. Untreated sleep apnea can cause or aggravate obesity, hypertension, diabetes, depression, sexual dysfunction, heart disease, heart attack, or even stroke. Statistically, it’s highly probably that all three of the above mentioned celebrities had undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea. Actually, Reggie White had known sleep apnea, but was unable to use his prescribed treatment regimen.

Even young, thin women who don’t snore can have obstructive sleep apnea, but the condition becomes much more common as one gains weight. Superstar female talk show hosts are susceptible too.

Written by Steven Park · Filed Under Blog | Leave a Comment

Does Oprah Have Sleep Apnea?

January 13, 2009

Oprah’s recent revelation in her magazine that she’s back above the 200 pound threshold made a lot of headlines recently. She was quoted as saying that rather than falling off the wagon, the wagon fell on her. Oprah attributes her weight problem to an ongoing thyroid condition. An excellent detailed description of her thyroid condition can be found on Mary Shomon’s site.

Ninety percent of women with obstructive sleep apnea in this country are undiagnosed. Instead, they are treated for the signs and symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, such as weight gain, depression, hypothyroidism, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. It doesn’t matter if you’re a celebrity—many women are susceptible to sleep-breathing problems, especially if you’re peri or post-menopausal.

Here are the tell-tale signs that Oprah may be suffering from untreated sleep apnea, including:

• yo-yo-like weight fluctuations

• her highly publicized diets and weight loss programs

• her well-known thyroid hormone imbalance

• an admitted food addict and cravings for junk food

• her feelings of depression and anxiety

• her chronic fatigue

I can prove that Oprah has sleep apnea—all she has to do is to undergo a formal sleep study.

Written by Steven Park · Filed Under Blog | Leave a Comment