Things I learned at the Sleep Disorders Centre (2)

1. I actually have 'severe' Obstructive Sleep Apnea (apparently averaging 80 episodes/hour).
2. Constant sleep/arousal as a result of OSA is implicated in insulin sensitivity (i.e. diabetes), high cholesterol, appetite control, depression/anxiety.
3. Not only does obesity contribute to OSA, but so does a history of (especially childhood) mouth breathing especially due to nasal congestion (read: childhood environmental allergies)
4. IT'S ALL RELATED--the sleep problems, the concentration/memory, the depression, the anxiety, the weight, the blood pressure, the diabetes.

So even if it weren't worth treating the OSA for its own sake, it might, must might, actually alleviate a lot of other problems.

Unrelated note to the crazy people: When one is born in the USA, unless one (or one's family) takes steps to prevent it, one is by definition a US citizen. It is not relevant where his father was born, or where his father was or was not a citizen. This isn't even a question like my father's, who was born in Alaska, when Alaska wasn't even a state. 1961 people. Statehood. Hawai'i. Born. End of story. Suck it up, and start worrying about something real.