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| |  The Snoring Relief and Sleep Apnea Institute Reports Revolutionary Cure TROY, Mich., Nov. 12, 1996 -- Dr. Richard E. Straith, MD, a renowned plastic surgeon, has perfected a procedure which effectively cures the serious medical condition Obstructive Sleep Apnea, also known as OSA. The Snoring Relief and Sleep Apnea Institute in Troy, Michigan (a Detroit suburb) will become an educational and training facility to teach other surgeons from around the world to perform this revolutionary and unique procedure. The Institute will also continue to diagnose and treat OSA and other sleep disorders. Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a potentially fatal disorder from which an estimated 10% of the world's population suffers. Obstructive Sleep Apnea occurs when, repeatedly during sleep, the airway in the throat becomes obstructed and the person actually stops breathing. There are many disorders associated with OSA, including loud snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness or napping, restlessness at night, constant tiredness and lack of energy during the day, dozing off while driving, a general feeling of never getting enough sleep, and irritability. Other more serious consequences associated with OSA include depression, morning headaches, high blood pressure, serious heart conditions, sexual problems, memory lapses, intellectual deterioration, and even death! Evidence also keeps mounting on a link between sleep apnea and heart disease. The basic problem for individuals with this disorder is that the arterial oxygen falls to below 50% of the normal level and the heart continues to pump this oxygen-deficient blood to the vital organs. This then causes pulmonary hypertension, cardiac irregularity, nighttime angina, coronary occlusions and, in severe cases, death due to the cessation of cardiac activity. Cessation of heartbeats has been recorded for as long as 16 seconds. Individuals can have obstructive apnea episodes up to 600 times a night. Although there have been several other procedures performed in an effort to alleviate OSA, there has been no one single procedure that effectively eliminates the condition in all patients. Until now, the best non-surgical alternative has been the use of a CPAP while sleeping. This is essentially an air pump which forcefully delivers pressurized air through a small nose mask strapped to the head. Insurance companies now pay out millions of dollars a year to continuously provide these units to sufferers of OSA. Dr. Straith has long felt that no one should have to wear a mechanical device that forces air into their lungs in order to allow them to breathe while sleeping. In 1983 he first developed a surgical procedure to eliminate the obstruction in the back of the throat which causes OSA. After a rigorous 12-year follow-up study on 35 patients who have undergone this surgery, we can show, through polysomnography testing, that a 100% improvement has been attained in half of the patients and a 75-95% in the rest. Immediately following surgery, most related disorders, such as generalized hypertension, morning headaches and cardiac and pulmonary complaints are totally relieved in virtually all patients. Those patients who had used a CPAP apparatus now do not require them. During the actual surgery, excessive tissue is removed from the back of the tongue and is then sutured in such a way that it prevents the tongue from failing back and obstructing the airway during sleep, but allows a sufficient airway for breathing. Seminars and training sessions for The Straith Procedure are currently being scheduled at The Snoring Relief and Sleep Apnea Institute located at 355 East Big Beaver Road, Suite 2, Troy, Michigan 48083.
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