The First Annual General Meeting of the Irish Sleep Apnoea Trust (ISAT) was held at St. Vincent's-University Hospital on March 3 .

The Irish Sleep Apnoea Trust (ISAT) was established in May 2000 following an initial exploratory meeting of patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) which was held at St. Vincent's University Hospital .The specific aims of the Trust are to support patients

with OSAS and their families, to promote improved facilities for the investigation and management of this disorder, and to support medical research. A steering committee has worked over the past 9 months to develop a detailed set of rules and regulations, and to formulate goals and direction for the Trust. Part of our goal is to obtain charitable status, which is currently being sought.
Almost 200 patients with OSAS have already

signed up to attend the meeting and delegates will be asked to approve the rules ,regulations and articles of association, and a formal committee structure will be established for the Trust. It is envisaged that, as interest grows, regional branches of ISAT will be established throughout the country.

This syndrome affects between 2 - 4% of the adult population in Europe, and predisposes to cardiovascular complications, particularly hypertension. Euro

pean prevalence figures indicate that there are likely to be somewhere between thirty to fifty thousand patients with at least some degree of the condition in this country.

The condition is associated with repetitive obstruction of the upper airway during sleep, which impairs sleep quality,                                               (to page 2)    (from page 1)

Volume 1, Issue 1

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Page 6

Presently although there are only some 2,500 patients in Ireland diagnosed with Sleep Apnoea Syndrome, E.U. Medical research indicates that somewhere in the region of 40/50,000 people in Ireland actually suffer from the disorder, ranging from mild to severe.
While most members are familiar with the symptoms there are some major problems facing people with the disorder:
Lack of understanding of the condition by the public and in some cases the medical profession.
Lack of meaningful clinically accredited support for sufferers

and a severe lack of Government funding.
Diminished work performance and reliability, which can sometimes lead to job loss in the main due to excessive daytime sleepiness.
A danger to themselves and their colleagues at work vis-a-vie health and safety.
Severe reduction in short term memory.
Severe disruption to social and family life.
A real threat to their quality of life.
Increased exposure to cardiac problems and early death.

As individuals we have little or no chance of improving matters, however as part of a national grouping, independent of the medical profession, it is possible to bring about change mainly through advocacy and lobbying. If you are not already a member, why not join up now. After all there is strength in numbers. Just fill in the form on the back page and send it off with your subscription.
We are non political, non profit making, democratic with the sole aim of improving the lot of Sleep Apnoea sufferers.

Larry Maginn (Chairman), at a recent National Committee meeting.

Remember:

www.isat.ie

Only a click away.
Regular updates on all aspects of The Irish Sleep Apnoea Trust.

The easy way to keep in touch with your support group.

Members, if you are having problems with your Health Service Provider or your CPAP
supplier, we may be able to help.

Postal Address:

ISAT
PO Box 8440,
Dublin 24.

• When flying, insist on bringing your CPAP machine as part of your hand luggage. If you have any doubts get a letter from your sleep clinic explaining the purpose of the machine. Do not allow your machine to be placed in the hold, under any circumstances.
  

• Despite what the sales staff tell you, aircraft do not have suitable power points for CPAP machines.
  

• CPAP works in the USA just as well as in Ireland. If there is no voltage switch at the rear of the machine (220V to 110V) just bring a power adaptor.
  

• It's also handy to bring an extra fuse or two with you. These should be available from your CPAP supplier.
  

• In most hotels you will need a power cable extension, as invariably there are no power sockets in the immediate vicinity of hotel beds. It is best to phone ahead to ensure that the extension cable is available on arrival.
  

• If you are staying with friends, especially if they have young children, it's best to explain about the machine. Young children, and even adults might get a shock if they were to unexpectedly see you 'hooked up'.
  

• As you may not have the time or opportunity to clean your machine/mask while abroad it is a good idea to give it a good cleaning before departure and (if you have one) bring an extra mask.
  

Bill is an air traffic controller (USA) recently diagnosed with Sleep Apnoea.
It took quite a long time before he recognised that he had a problem and sought help. The frightening part was that during his time with untreated apnoea he was working at a very busy unit directing and controlling anything up to 80 or 90 aircraft at any one time.
To exacerbate his problems he was also working a shift pattern which started with two early shifts followed by two late shifts and then two nights.

His sleep pattern was irregular and he quite often dropped off to sleep as soon as the busy period began to ease. His initial reaction was 'my irregular sleep pattern' and as he was just coming up to his 40th birthday he thought 'I'm not getting any younger'.
He then noticed that on his way home from work he was nodding off at the wheel. Thankfully for Bill his wife realised that there was a serious problem. He was also lucky enough that his GP diagnosed a sleep disorder and referred him to a recognised sleep specialist.
Because Bill's licence requires an annual medical certificate he was immediately suspended from work, however following successful treatment by CPAP and certification by his sleep specialist he is now happily back at work.
Bill was lucky. What if one or more aircraft crashed because he failed to follow up on the warning signs.

Bill's case could just as easily apply to a bus, truck or train driver or even an ordinary motorist. It could easily be an assembly worker who might be a serious danger to their workmates.
We should remember that while untreated Sleep Apnoea can, in extreme cases, be fatal, the sufferer can also be responsible for the death of others through their negligence.

Comments regarding this first issue of our quarterly newsletter are very welcome.
Please (no matter how bad you think it is) try and be constructive.
If you want to submit an article or letter for publication please include your name and preferred contact method (ie phone, address or email) in case we need to verify anything. We will not publish your personal details unless requested to do

so.
In future issues we intend publishing articles from the medical profession, surveys on equipment etc, and details of similar minded organisations throughout Europe and the US.
Contact us at:
PO Box 8440,
Dublin 24.

Or

Dominic O'Callaghan and Emer O'Connor

CPAP QUESTIONNAIRE

Please complete the form accurately and quickly and return it to:

ISAT,
PO Box 8440,
Dublin 24.

We hope to be able to publish the results in our next newsletter in the Autumn.

For the technically minded, who have access to the Internet, you can log on to
www.isat.ie and complete the questionnaire online.

The blonde replied "I'm blonde,
I'm beautiful, I'm going to New York and I'm not moving."
Not wanting to argue with a customer the flight attendant asked the co-pilot
to speak with her. He went to talk with the woman asking her to please move
out of the first class section. Again, the blonde replied, "I'm blonde, I'm
beautiful, I'm going to New York and I'm not moving."
The co-pilot returned to the cockpit and asked the captain what should he
do. The captain said, "I'm married to a blonde, and I know how to handle
this."
He went to the first class section and whispered in the blonde's ear. She
immediately jumped up and ran to the economy section mumbling to herself,
"Why didn't anyone just say so?"
Surprised, the flight attendant and the co-pilot asked what he said to her
that finally convinced her to move from her seat. He said, "I told her the
first class section wasn't going to New York."

No newsletter would be complete without a little humour, so here goes:
(For the sake of racial and religious harmony the word 'blonde' may be substituted with 'brunette', 'redhead' or whatever. A blonde female, could of course be a blonde male)
On a plane bound for New York the flight attendant approached a blonde sitting in the first class section and requested that she move to economy, since she did not have a first class ticket