Keys to getting a good night's sleep
Gary Klare used to fall asleep while watching movies before the part where you find out who done it.
Often, he would nod off in his chair at mid-discussion with a friend or family member.
And at night he would saw logs with the best of them, keeping his wife awake.
My wife used to give me the old elbow to stop my snoring, said Klare, 64, of Green Township. Now she puts her hand on my chest to make sure Im breathing.
What has Klare sleeping soundly and quietly through the night is an implanted device that opens his upper airway and counteracts the sleep apnea that has dogged him for 10 years.
University of Cincinnati sleep apnea and snoring specialist Dr. David Steward implanted the experimental device in Klares upper right chest under his skin against his chest cavity in an hourlong operation on Sept. 20.
The surgery and follow-up sleep studies and check-up are being monitored and paid for by Inspire Medical Systems of Maple Grove, Minn.
The company is the creator of the Upper Airway Stimulation therapy system.
Klare and five other patients of Stewards are part of an international study the company is sponsoring in an attempt to get the device on the market and available to the public.
How upper airway stimulation worksOne wire implanted near the lungs senses an increase in pulmonary pressure when the patient is about to breathe, and it sends a signal to the battery-operated pulse generator.
A second wire leading from the device triggers the hypoglossal nerve in the patients neck that makes the tongue move forward. That results in opening the aiway so the patient can breathe easier.
The early results are promising, said Steward, who will perform a sixth implant in January. The patients have done well.
I feel like Ive had a lot of success with this, said Klare, a retired information security officer who worked 33 years for U.S. Bank and 11 years for Ohio Casualty.
Hypoglossal Nerve And Name Of Condition - News
For patients who are truly intolerant of CPAP and have extensive sleep apnea associated with comorbid medical conditions, however, "treatments with an oral appliance are reasonable, and the hypoglossal nerve stimulator provides yet another mechanism,"
A second wire leading from the device triggers the hypoglossal nerve in the patient's neck that makes the tongue move forward. That results in opening the aiway so the patient can breathe easier. “The early results are promising,” said Steward,
