NO MORE SNORING

NO MORE SNORING
Victor Hoffstein, MD, and Shirley Linde, PhD
New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999
186 pages, paperback, $12.95
ISBN 0-471-24375-2

Reviewed by Lynne Lamberg

In 1843, Hoffstein and Linde report, John Wesley Hardin, the infamous Wild West gunfighter from Texas, shot and killed a loud snorer sleeping in the next room in a hotel in Abilene. Hardin just couldn't put up with the noise any longer.

When President Theodore Roosevelt was in the hospital, other patients in the same wing complained that his snoring kept them from sleeping.

One man came to the doctor with bruises on his legs. A blood disorder? A medication side effect? Neither, the doctor discovered. When the man snored, his wife kicked him repeatedly to get him to turn over.

These are classic snoring stories, told here by Hoffstein, head of the respiratory division at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, and Linde, a veteran science writer and co-author of No More Sleepless Nights.

This lively, well-organized book provides solid information about snoring and sleep apnea, home tests, the effects of smoking and drinking, the role of allergies, and the impact of nutrition, exercise, and medications. It describes snore balls that prevent sleeping on the back and other simple solutions, tells what to expect if you go to a sleep lab, and explains major treatments, such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to keep airways open in sleep, oral appliances, and surgery. The book is up to the minute, with reports on adhesive strips that widen nasal openings and surgery by radio-frequency energy, both said here to be beneficial.

Each chapter has many subdivisions, with boldface, large-type headings that make scanning easy. Those in the allergy chapter, for example, include: what causes allergies?; how do allergies cause snoring?; if pollen is the problem; if your pet is the problem; you may be allergic to your house; how to allergy proof your house; organic solvents; and medications to take.

The book includes a list of sleep disorders centers in the United States and other countries, and of sleep-related associations, including the American Sleep Apnea Organization www.sleepapnea.org. This polished and fast-moving book will aid persons who snore, those diagnosed with sleep apnea, and their families.