With help from the Sleep Disorders Center, a working mom overcomes years of fatigue caused by sleep apnea

Mary Corbin had a few health concerns, but sleep was not high on the list.

"I've been treated for heart problems and an immune deficiency, and I'm an employed mother of three," she says. "So there's a lot going on. And I've always felt restless at night and tired a lot, but I just associated it with other things."

When her overall feelings of being 'down' and fatigued began to add up, however, Corbin saw a physician who asked if her sleep patterns had ever been evaluated. They hadn't, and that led to a sleep study coordinated by neuroscientist Eric Dyken, M.D., director of the Sleep Disorders Center at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

During an overnight stay in the center's sleep laboratory, Corbin's brain activity was monitored and her nighttime sleep behaviors were videotaped. What the center's sleep specialists found was cause for concern: Corbin's oxygen saturation level had dropped so low (69 percent) that she was at risk of a nighttime stroke or heart attack. She was awakened and asked to wear a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask.

CPAP made an immediate difference. Corbin slept deeply and learned the next day she had been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea during the deeper stages of sleep. "They told me I woke up 43 times during an eight to 10-hour period," she says. "That's once every 60 to 90 seconds!"

Corbin's life has improved dramatically since then. Following Dyken's advice, she is using a CPAP machine every night, losing weight, and practicing good "sleep hygiene" … no more TV in the bedroom.

"I feel wonderful and I'm truly grateful to Dr. Dyken for making this possible," she says. "I hadn't slept well for 15 years since the birth of my last child. It's like a new lease on life!"

Corbin's experience reflects the Sleep Disorders Center's role as a comprehensive clinic specializing in long-term follow-up of patients with sleep apnea and other sleep disorders. Staffed by six board certified sleep physicians, it was one of the first sleep centers accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in the state of Iowa.

"We have the expertise to evaluate more than 80 specific sleep disorder diagnoses, including insomnia (difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep), sleep apnea, seizures in sleep, parasomnias (sleep walking, night terrors, etc.), narcolepsy/cataplexy, and restless legs syndrome," Dyken says. "Patients generally receive a full history and physical, after which further steps (which may or may not include a sleep study) are recommended."

The center also offers an accredited sleep training program for fellow physicians and conducts groundbreaking sleep-related research. "We were the first to show a clear association between apnea, stroke, and death, while showing landmark associations with EEG findings and narcolepsy and parasomnias," Dyken says.

Ongoing research includes various drug studies on narcolepsy and restless legs syndrome. Sleep specialist Jon Tippin, M.D., is using the hospital's driving simulator to investigate the dangers of various disorders associated with sleepiness. Thoru Yamada, M.D., who is the editorial board member for the Journal of Sleep Medicine, conducts research into sensory perception's relationship with sleep.

The center's interdisciplinary approach to patient care includes pediatric specialist Deborah Lin-Dyken, M.D., who performs sleep studies at the Center for Disabilities and Development, part of University of Iowa Children's Hospital. Malcolm Yeh, M.D., directs sleep laboratories at the Iowa City VA Medical Center. In addition, adult insomnia services are managed by Steven Anderson, Ph.D., and Cher Stephenson.

For more information, patients and families should call UI Health Access and ask for the Sleep Disorders Center, or call the center directly at 319-356-3813. For consultation or referral, physicians should call UI Consult.

Muscatine outreach

The sleep disorders expertise of specialists from University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is now available through a new sleep service in Muscatine, Iowa, offered in affiliation with Unity Healthcare. Appointments are by physician referral only. The medical co-directors are Shekar Ramon, M.D., a sleep specialist in the Department of Neurology, and Herbert Berger, M.D., a UI internal medicine specialist.

Rested and Ready to Go
A good night's rest helps Mary Corbin manage her responsibilities as a social worker at the Center for Disabilities and Development.