Today I spent most of my day in clinic with Dr. Lewis meeting with patients, as I did in the mornings of each of my first two days. Several patients today showed evidence of sleep apnea, and as a result, I decided to make that the focal point of my post for today. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that presents itself during sleep. When a patient has this disorder, they will wake up in the middle of the night, sometimes multiple times, gasping for air. This occurs because airways can become blocked, and simply put: you stop breathing. The body corrects for this, however, as when blood oxygen levels are abnormally low, the brain senses it and wakes you up. Unfortunately, a lot of people with sleep apnea don’t even know that they have it, so doctors must evaluate and monitor their symptoms if they believe they may have the disease. Symptoms present themselves as snoring, gasping for air, dry mouth upon waking up, headaches, insomnia, hypersomnia (sleepiness during the day), difficulty with attention during the day, and more. But what does this have to do with the heart and cardiovascular system? Having sleep apnea can lead to a multitude of cardiovascular issues. The disease can cause weakening of the heart due to the decreased oxygenation, and stress that it places on the cardiovascular system as a whole. As a result, the heart can sustain arrhythmias (irregular/abnormal heartbeats and rhythm), uncontrolled high blood pressure, heart failure, and pulmonary hypertension.