Sleep apnea occurs when a person stops and starts breathing several times during a normal sleep occurrence. It can be indicated by loud snoring and/or feeling fatigued even after a full night’s rest. Cedar Valley ASCENT, with a main office in Waterloo, Iowa and several community outreach locations and ENT specialist Dr. Kenny Rodriguez are experienced in treating all forms of sleep apnea, including:

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

  • This occurs when breathing is blocked by excess soft tissue in the throat as muscles relax, causing a narrowing of the airway and the lowering of one’s blood oxygen level. Patients are awakened by their brains telling them that they need oxygen. Sleep apnea sufferers often are roused from sleep while choking or gasping for air. This process can be repeated several times an hour during a given sleep cycle, with patients not even knowing this is happening.

Central Sleep Apnea

  • This type of sleep apnea is where brain and breathing muscles are unconnected and a person does not take in air for a period of time. As with obstructive sleep apnea, those with central sleep apnea will sometimes awaken with shortness of breath or often struggle to sleep.

Complex Sleep Apnea Syndrome

  • The hallmark of this condition is simultaneously suffering from obstructive and central sleep apnea.
woman up late at night who can't sleep

Heart Conditions

  • Repeatedly stopping and restarting breathing during sleep places a significant strain on a person’s heart, as drastic decreases in blood oxygen levels raise blood pressure. By making this risk of hypertension greater, sleep apnea makes it more likely that a patient will experience a heart attack, stroke and abnormal heartbeats (including sudden death).

Type 2 Diabetes

  • Insulin resistance is a condition where a person’s insulin levels cause a person’s blood sugar to rise, making type 2 diabetes more likely. Sleep apnea has been linked to the development of insulin resistance, as the shortage of oxygen ignites the body’s insulin use, helping build up the insulin resistance that leads to type 2 diabetes.

Liver Issues

  • Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) covers a spectrum of liver-related issues that primarily deal with an excess of fat within the liver that often leads to liver inflammation, scarring and in the most serious cases, liver failure. Sleep apnea is a risk factor for this disease. It is notable that people with NAFLD and sleep apnea are also often obese. Specifically, the absence of oxygen experienced during sleep apnea spells results in an acceleration of NAFLD in patients.
man rubbing eyes out of tiredness

Fatigue and Exhaustion

  • Sleep apnea can dramatically inhibit normal activities of those afflicted with the condition, as sufferers often find themselves feeling drowsy, moody or falling asleep, during the day. This is because sleep apnea prevents regular, consistent sleep, causing those with the condition to underperform at home and at work. It also deprives sleep partners of good sleep or forces them to find alternate sleeping quarters.