Doctor Helps Snoring Man With Eviction Notice

W H I T E   P L A I N S, N.Y., Dec. 13 -- Bruce Menia's snoring was so loud that his involuntary nightly rumblings led to an eviction notice from his apartment in upstate New York. But sleep experts found that a special sleep mask could put a lid on the noise.

Menia's landlord says the loud snoring is a violation of his lease, and has asked him to leave the apartment — or face eviction by mid-January.

Menia, a 51-year-old engineer, admits that he snores, but doesn't believe it's bad enough to force him, his wife and his 7½-year-old stepdaughter out of their apartment.

An estimated 40 million Americans suffer from chronic snoring.To help Menia and his family, Good Morning America arranged a sleep makeover for him at the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at the New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical College in White Plains, N.Y.

For those with a snoring problem as intense as Menia's, they should go to a sleep lab to get the best treatment, ABCNEWS' Dr. Nancy Snyderman said.

Doctors at the center diagnosed Menia with obstructive sleep apnea, a temporary closure of the upper respiratory passage airway during sleep, and set him up with a mask-like device called a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, to help him breathe.

Searching for Source of Snores

To find out why Menia snored so loudly, Broch took a thorough sleep history from Menia. He also underwent a physical exam, which included a look at his throat and upper airway to check for structural abnormalities.

While he slept, doctors placed sensors on his head, chest and legs which would give a constant flow of information throughout the night, offering clues to the cause of his snoring.

After it was lights out for Bruce, the sleep specialists were busy behind the scenes, monitoring his breathing and other sleep parameters, including eye movement and leg movement. A person with sleep apnea tends to jerk their legs while they sleep, because of their breathing problems.

Menia's snoring was so intense that he actually stopped breathing 30 times an hour for periods of 30 to 40 seconds at a time, said Dr. Lauren Broch, the sleep center's education director.