Talk About Sleep, Inc. joins with MedicAlert Foundation To Promote Sleep Awareness

March 13, 2006

National Sleep Awareness week is March 27 through April 2. As part of the Talk About Sleep (TAS) mission of sleep education and awareness, President and CEO, Dr. James O'Brien and Senior VP, Tracy Nasca have joined with the MedicAlert Foundation program to encourage patient participation.  In addition, Dr. O'Brien will be assisting MedicAlert to add sleep apnea and narcolepsy education for first responders.

MedicAlert members receive a bracelet or necklace which will identify their medical and medication information to first responders.  Sleep apnea and narcolepsy patients are encouraged to participate in the MedicAlert program to identify their disorders in the event of an emergency.

"Patient support is one of my areas of expertise within the Talk About Sleep platform", says Tracy . "I am in a unique position to be able to correspond with thousands of sleep disorder patients through email and phone calls. Time and time again, I hear of situations where a sleep apnea patient died or life was otherwise compromised by a trip to the emergency room where medical teams were not aware that the patient had sleep apnea and therefore CPAP was not used. Untold numbers of narcolepsy patients are needlessly taken by ambulance to the ER due to a cataplexy episode or found asleep in a public setting which might result in them being robbed or assaulted. We are so pleased to work with the MedicAlert Foundation to include sleep awareness in their education process."

Dr. O'Brien reports that sleep apnea patients who require treatment with CPAP therapy are required to wear their interface (mask) connected to their CPAP device whenever they are unconscious from illness, sleep, sedatives, anesthesia, hypnotics, other depressant medications or illicit drugs, and alcohol. Without the use of CPAP, dangerous cardiovascular conditions can emerge including angina, heart attack, heart failure and arthymias, as well as neurological conditions including stroke and seizure disorders, which may not be initially apparent when one is unconscious and unable to complain of potential symptoms.

Sleep Apnea patients should never be placed flat on their back when they are not awake and alert, since a dangerous reduction in ability to breathe can occur from acute upper airway closure emanating from their tongue base occluding their oropharyngeal airway.

Narcolepsy afflicts an estimated 150,000 people with fewer than 50,000 diagnosed. Patients may require frequent naps as part of their treatment and condition. If sufficient and frequents naps are not achieved on a 24 hour basis, then falling asleep at socially inappropriate times can occur and may can be confused with boredom, lack of interest, disrespect, or socially rebellious behavior. However, none of these behaviors are an accurate explanation for their need to nap frequently through the day and night!  Over a 24 hour period, patients with narcolepsy tend to sleep as much or more than people without narcolepsy, except they sleep in small fragmented time periods rather than one continuous length of time during the night as is considered "normal".

Cataplexy, a sudden loss of muscle control, is an additional condition that affects a great number of persons with narcolepsy. It represents the sudden onset of REM stage sleep or dream sleep, during which the body is generally completely paralyzed, except for the heart, diaphragm and muscles which control eye movements. When one experiences someone during a cataplexy episode, they may have quite suddenly been observed to collapse, without warning or apparent movement on the ground subsequently.  Cataplexy can be triggered by emotions, sudden noises, or certain lighting conditions. Hearing a joke, laughing or being surprised can create such a total body collapse.

During a cataplexy episode, a person is conscious, despite their inability to be able to move or converse. They are not in any distress unless they were injured from the collapse where they fell. Often these collapses last only a few minutes followed by return of normal motor function and mental alertness. When a cataplexy episode occurs and passes, it does not require a person with a diagnosis of narcolepsy with cataplexy to have to go the emergency room or receive acute medical treatment unless there was an acute injury related to the collapse itself. The wearing of a MedicAlert band will help maintain as normal a lifestyle as possibility for the already challenged person with cataplexy and enable them to live as uncompromised in society as is possible.