A Wake-Up Call for Heavy Snorers

SOME PEOPLE GET A MISERABLE NIGHT'S SLEEP AND don't even know it. But for a debilitating grogginess the day after, they haven't a clue that they passed the wee hours dozing, then waking, then dozing again. The disorder is called sleep apnea, and according to University of Wisconsin researchers, millions of Americans have it.

As the sufferer is snoozing, throat muscles that keep breathing passages open relax so much that the airway closes. As much as a minute may pass before the sleeper gasps for air and rouses briefly. In a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that 4% of women and 9% of men stopped breathing at least 15 times an hour during a night's sleep. Because they are seldom fully awake, most apnea sufferers are unaware that their sleep is disrupted. The only clue may come from a bed partner whose own rest is disturbed by the breathing fits and starts. Besides cutting down on productivity, experts believe, apnea contributes to car and job accidents and may be a factor in strokes and heart attacks.