If you are one of the 12 million Americans who suffer from sleep apnea, you now have a shoulder to lean on in the Augusta-Aiken area.

The new MCGHealth A.W.A.K.E. Support Group will meet monthly to provide peer support for people with sleep apnea and their families. The inaugural meeting will be held April 22, 2010, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Resource Library on the first floor of the MCGHealth Children’s Medical Center . The group is one of only four A.W.A.K.E. Network support groups in Georgia and the only one in Augusta. A.W.A.K.E. is an acronym for Alert, Well, And Keeping Energetic, and it is the mantra of this American Sleep Apnea Association network.

“A.W.A.K.E. meetings will provide patients with a comprehensive understanding of sleep apnea and its prescribed treatment. Through interactions with others who have this diagnosis, patients and families may also share coping mechanisms so that the sense of isolation common in sleep apnea patients may be alleviated,” said Penny Mehaffey, Registered Sleep Technologist at the MCGHealth Sleep Disorders Center .

Respiratory Therapist Julie Jackson of Care Medical will speak at the first meeting. She will help participants get better acquainted with CPAP equipment and provide a refresher in the proper use of the equipment.  CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure equipment, stops sleep apnea by delivering a stream of compressed air through the nostrils

Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. Those with sleep apnea stop breathing for 10 seconds or more during sleep, and it could occur from dozens to hundreds of times a night.  Sleep apnea is caused by blocked or narrowed airways in your nose, mouth or throat. Men who are age 40 and overweight are at greater risk for the disorder, but no one, even a child, is immune to sleep apnea.

If left untreated, sleep apnea can have serious consequences such as high blood pressure and other cardiovascular risks, memory problems, weight gain, impotency and headaches.

MCGHealth A.W.A.K.E. Support Group meetings will take place the fourth Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. The meeting is free and open to anyone diagnosed with or interested in sleep apnea.

To register for the meeting, please call Penny Mehaffey at 706-721-0793. For more information about the MCGHealth Sleep Disorders Center , visit mcghealth.org.

MCG Health, Inc. (d/b/a MCGHealth) is a not-for-profit corporation operating the MCGHealth Medical Center , MCGHealth Children’s Medical Center , MCGHealth Cancer Center , Georgia Radiation Therapy Center, and related outpatient facilities and services throughout the state.  For more information, please visit mcghealth.org.