Beebe Medical Center Sleep Disorder Center will provide a free monthly clinic for those patients who have been prescribed the continuous positive-airway pressure machine to help them sleep.
The clinic will be available the first Thursday of every month with appointments between 4 and 7 p.m., at the Beebe Sleep Disorder Center, located in Suite 213 of the Medical Arts Building in the Beebe Health Campus on Route 24.
Continuous positive-airway pressure (CPAP) is a common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 18 million people suffer from sleep apnea, a condition in which patients wake up several times during the night because they literally stop breathing. Breathing begins once they awake. Usually, they do not know that this is happening.
The consequences of this interrupted sleep pattern lead to drowsiness during the day, weight gain, depression and the risk of diseases such as hypertension, coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure. Of those patients being treated for sleep apnea, only 65 percent of them are using CPAP machines properly. Consequently, the other 35 percent of patients are not receiving the benefits from the treatment.
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