Word: patiently
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Finally, after about 10 seconds the patient takes a breath. The functions return to their previous appearances. A television monitor, displaying the darkened bedroom for those outside watching the readout, reveals that the man is once again breathing fairly normally...
Then 30 seconds later, it happens again About 100 times an hour from 11 p.m. until 6 or 6.30 a.m. the patient will temporarily stop breathing. Chances are he will hardly remember it, but each time he wakes up briefly. He will remain fatigued...
...next room, also hooked up to a variety of monitors and a recording device, is a 30-year old woman who suspects that she has insomnia. She arrived at about 9 p.m. the usual hour for patients to enter the lab for overnight stays, and her vital signs will be recorded until 6 a.m. as well. She is an outpatient, in the clinic just for the night, and unlike the sleep apnea patient, she requires no supervision from the lab's two-man team...
...though several of the functions being monitored are different. Whenever she turns over or even moves more than slightly, the readout goes haywire as the connecting wires vibrate. The pens shoot back and forth so quickly that the resulting pattern is almost solid black. This patient can be left alone, for her diagnosis will be determined during the day by reviewing the information on the printout. The lab team will devote most of their attention...
Aside from the severity of his case, Stakes adds, tonight's patient is typical of apnea sufferers. He is in late middle age, moderately obese, with a short neck, and male. Most apnea victims are, and their wives bring them in to this clinic or others like it complaining that while their spouse has always snored, recently they have noticed that he seems to stop breathing...