Lots of laughter, questions and plenty of animated discussion filled the conference room at Best Western Bidarka Hotel Aug. 29, as Dr. Daron Scherr explained the intricacies of sleep -- the reason it's important, what can happen without it, the components of a sleep cycle and a variety of disorders -- for an audience of more than 60 people.

"The only ones who ever fall asleep during sleep disorder lectures are those people who have a serious sleep disorder," Scherr's told his audience, drawing a laugh.

Scherr, a board certified sleep specialist and director of The Sleep Institute in Blackfoot, Idaho, serves as medical consultant for South Peninsula Hospital Sleep Lab. While in Homer, he met with hospital staff, gave a presentation to physicians, visited the lab and gave a public seminar on sleep disorders that addressed snoring, restless legs, frequent awakenings, sleep apnea, fatigue, insomnia and sleep walking.

"Sleep labs and institutes for the treatment of patients are definitely new," Scherr told the Homer News, referring to facilities for studying sleep that have sprung up during the last 50 years. "But sleep has been studied for thousands of years. It doesn't matter what medical text book you look at, the Bible, 4,000-year-old Chinese scrolls, there's the mention about sleep and bad sleep."

Equally common is mention of the three pillars of health: diet, exercise and sleep.

"You find that in every medical text book," Scherr said.

About 100 years ago, scientific opinions about sleep began taking shape, offering more understanding besides a state resembling.

"And real sleep medicine took off about 50 years ago," Scherr said, referring specifically to improved therapies for obstructive sleep apnea.

Not just for adults, Scherr said labs typically are able to study sleep patterns for patients as young as two years old. The most common sleep disorder is insomnia, or difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep. The most common reason an individual is referred to a sleep lab is because of obstructive sleep apnea, a disorder of repeatedly waking up to breathe.

"It's a disorder that is common in people who are overweight, have high blood pressure, a history of any heart problems or strokes," Scherr said, adding, "Treating obstructive sleep apnea improves high blood pressure, diabetes, insulin resistance and cuts the risk of stroke and heart attack by 50 percent."

In individuals with OSA, the flight or fight adrenaline response is increased and more active by 300 percent, 24 hours a day, whether they are awake or asleep.

"Those stress hormones are good if you have a bear chasing you or if you have pneumonia. They help you to live now," Scherr said. "But to have them 300 percent higher than normal 24 hours a day is what increases your risk of heart attack and stroke. We've proven that when treated, we cut the risk by 50 percent."

The three treatments for OSA are surgery, a dental or oral appliance that attaches to teeth to hold the lower jaw and move the tongue forward and CPAP -- continuous positive airway pressure -- a mask that gently blows in air to keep the airway from closing.

Other sleep disorders include excessive sleepiness, the difficulty to stay awake during the day; shift work disorder, sleeping out of phase from the normal 24-hour Circadian Rhythm; and restless leg syndrome, legs feeling like they must move when trying to rest.

To help individuals discover their individual sleep needs, Scherr suggested keeping a sleep diary. Designed for a two-week period of time, it tracks the amount of hours slept each night, giving an average amount that best suits the person.

He also discussed Dawn Simulators, lights that bring a person out of sleep as the lights gain intensity.

"When people understand these issues, they can understand why things they've tried don't work and what they can do," Scherr said. "I find about 70 percent of people coming to lectures, after my lectures don't need my help any more."

According to information posted on the National Sleep Foundation's Web site, Darrell Drobnich, acting chief executive officer for NSF, said, "Nearly 50 million Americans chronically suffer from sleep problems that affect their careers, their personal relationships and the safety on our roads."

In Homer, South Peninsula Hospital has a sleep lab that offers physician-referred sleep studies to address a wide range of sleep problems.

"A physician refers (clients) for a sleep study, then it is administered by our respiratory therapist at our private clinic in a mid-town location," said Derotha Ferraro, marketing director for SPH.

"(The Sleep Institute) is on contract with the hospital to interpret sleep studies for our sleep lab in the absence of a trained local doctor. Both Homer Medical and Kachemak Bay Medical clinics have physicians trained to read studies, and Dr. Scherr and his office fill in for other patients."

Scherr said most patients think of him as a board certified unconscious specialist.

"I think of myself as a 'I feel like crap and want to feel better' specialist," he said, laughing.

For more information about the SPH Sleep Lab, call 235-0325.

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibbenjackinsky.@homernews.com