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the mortal to be unfaithful. Her father the nymph king then placed a curse on the fickle lover making his breathing a conscious and not automatic process. Thus, if the mortal should fall asleep, he would forget to breath. Eventually Ondine's cursed lover succumbed to complete exhaustion, fell asleep, and died.
• The name "Ondine's Curse" was first used in 1962 to describe three brain surgery patients who died resulting from the loss of the autonomic drive to breath during sleep. The name subsequently came to be used to describe a rare congenital syndrome in babies with a similar inadequate breathing drive. More recently experts advise the name Ondine's Curse be dropped since the word "curse" implies wrongdoing and guilt to the parents of these unfortunate babies.
• I think this story better relates to the broad category of conditions called sleep apnea, which involves troubled breathing while asleep. The word apnea actually means "no breath" or "breathless." Less than one percent of patients with sleep apnea is due to weakness of the brain-controlled autonomic drive to breath, called central apnea; 85 percent is due to floppy-fatty airways that obstruct breathing, called obstructive apnea; and the rest is due to a combination of central and obstructive causes, called complex apnea.
• Whichever the type, sleep apnea can be a dangerous, even deadly condition, resulting in excessive daytime sleepiness, depression, anger and irritability, memory loss, and even strokes. What's more, prolonged low-oxygen causes increased risk for high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, heart attack, and sudden death.
• Clues for this serious condition include high blood pressure, morning headaches, sudden awakening with shortness of breath, observed spells of breathing cessation, especially in people who are obese, loud snorers, smokers, or sedated by alcohol or sleeping meds. Then again sometimes there is little warning and sleep apnea is a silent killer.
• If you or your spouse could have sleep apnea, see your doctor. You wouldn't want to have Ondine's curse.
• Rick Holm wrote this Prairie Doc Perspective for "On Call®," a weekly program where medical professionals discuss health concerns for the general public.
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