Eric Gregg’s snoring is outta here! Doctors predict that with weight loss, the former Major League Baseball umpire could have a new life, following a microwave tonsillectomy to improve his sleep apnea.  Now he is determined to bring Apnea Awareness to the 50 million other sufferers.

Bala Cynwyd, PA - Snoring and sleep apnea are major leading causes of depression, daytime sleepiness, heart attacks and strokes.  “Making people aware of the seriousness of these problems has been a difficult task for doctors, because snoring and sleep apnea occur while we sleep,” according to Dr. Mansoor Madani, who is one of the leading surgeons and spokespersons of the Apnea Awareness team in Philadelphia.

Eric Gregg, the former major league baseball umpire, recently underwent a fairly simple but potentially life saving procedure.  His closest friend died from heart complications and “although the relationship of his death has not been clearly linked to sleep apnea, it is scary when you stop breathing at night, gasp for air all the time, have nightmares or jump out of bed with heart palpitations,” says Eric Gregg, who is a sufferer of sleep apnea.  “I was afraid to go to the hospital for an operation and was worried about being laid off for two weeks,” continues Gregg.  “I read in a major metropolitan newspaper that my very large tonsils could actually be shrunken with a new procedure developed and designed by a world renowned surgeon in Philadelphia,” adds Gregg.

Eric was operated on by Dr. Mansoor Madani, the head of the Center For Corrective Surgery in September of this year.  The procedure is called “Microwave Tonsillectomy”.  A small probe is placed inside the tonsils and kept there for only thirty seconds.  The heat causes the tonsils to shrink within ten weeks.  Eric also had a very narrow airway due to an excessively large uvula – the hanging structure in the back of the throat, which was removed with laser.  Within a few days, Eric was back to his normal activities.

Without serious weight reduction and even the use of a special breathing mask, the sleep apnea will not disappear on its own.  However, surgeons are making revolutionary new lead ways to reshape the throat and remove the blockage that cause these obstructions in people’s airways.  Early awareness of the seriousness of snoring and recognition and treatment of sleep apnea are important steps to longer life and possibly the prevention of irregular heartbeats, heart attacks and strokes.

 “Our goal is to make people aware that snoring is no laughing matter.  Treatments are easy and fairly simple, ranging from the traditional CPAP to more modern laser and radiowave technology which, in most cases, can be done in the doctor’s office.” According to Dr. Madani, who is also an associate professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Temple University in Philadelphia, “People who snore must be aware that although it doesn’t seem to bother them, because they are sleeping when these problems happen, snoring can strike the life out of them,” adds Madani.

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