Sleep Apnea Awareness Day

Proclamation
By the Governor of Alabama

WHEREAS, sleep apnea is a common, chronic disorder in which one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breathing occurs during sleep; and

WHEREAS, sleep apnea is thought to affect at least nine percent of women and twenty-four percent of men in the United States; and

WHEREAS, sleep apnea can be a complicating factor in the administration of general anesthesia during surgery; and

WHEREAS, depression, narcolepsy, restless leg syndrome, high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes are just a few of the harmful health consequences of an undiagnosed or untreated sleep disorder; and

WHEREAS, sleep apnea can be treated with positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy, which supplies pressurized air through a breathing mask that prevents the airway from collapsing; and

WHEREAS, sleep studies are used to help healthcare providers diagnose whether an individual has a sleeping disorder by measuring how well an individual sleeps and how the body responds to sleep problems:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim October 5, 2015, as

Sleep Apnea Awareness Day

in the State of Alabama.

Given Under My Hand and the Great Seal of the Office of the Governor at the State Capitol in the City of Montgomery on the 18th day of September 2015.

Robert Bentley
Governor