A Wake-Up Call for Heavy Snorers

The debilitating disorder called sleep apnea may be affecting millions

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...

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