New NYC law will establish free sleep apnea screening program
Sleep apnea screenings will be free for New Yorkers under a new law passed Wednesday.
Councilman Shaun Abreu's bill will ensure the city provides free sleep apnea screenings and at-home sleep tests as part of a three-year program, along with launching a public awareness campaign called "More Than a Snore" to educate New Yorkers about the symptoms. The law goes into effect on June 15.
New York City Councilman diagnosed with sleep apnea
"Sleep apnea interrupts your air flow and oxygen to your brain, and 80% of people that have sleep apnea don't know that they have it," Abreu said.
Approximately 30 million Americans have sleep apnea, and Abreu says too many New Yorkers aren't getting diagnosed when they should be.
Abreu himself was diagnosed with sleep apnea after a friend said what he had was "more than a snore."
"My snore was that of a freight train about a year ago, and getting that early testing allowed me to figure out I have sleep apnea," he said.
He was given a mouth guard and says he's dropped around 40 pounds.
"I feel I have better energy. I feel more present," Abreu said.
Sleep apnea is underdiagnosed, doctors say
"It's such an important initiative because sleep apnea has been a condition that has been underdiagnosed for several decades," said Dr. Ana Krieger, director of the Weill Cornell Center for Sleep Medicine. "Last year, the American Heart Association highlighted the importance of sleep apnea screening."
At the Mount Sinai Integrative Sleep Center, Dr. Andrew Varga says the number of patients booking appointments is increasing.
"What people are coming for are complaints that sounds like it might be sleep apnea with snoring, choking or gasping at night, daytime sleepiness or cognitive dysfunction during the day," Varga said. "The vast majority of the time, I am prescribing home sleep testing."
As far as treatment options, Abreu says he has another piece of legislation that addresses that.
"It is the city that never sleeps and sometimes it can come at a cost, and maybe they're not sleeping because they have sleep apnea. We should figure out what came first," Abreu said.
The CPAP machine is one of the most common ways to treat sleep apnea.
Doctors say those diagnosed with mild sleep apnea may not even need a machine, and sometimes the condition can be resolved with weight management.
Mount Sinai says it's currently organizing a study to look at whether the treatment of sleep apnea can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's.
