Obstructive sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that involves cessation or significant decrease in airflow in the presence of breathing effort and is characterized by recurrent episodes of upper airway collapse that occurs many times nightly. The sufferer is unable to sleep thoroughly, as they are frequently aroused by their own physiological need for air.

An apnea is defined as the cessation of airflow for at least 10 seconds; of course these can last for over half a minute or more and as frequently as 1-2 a minute (every minute, every hour of sleep). OSA is associated with a number of diseases, including; high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, heart attack, pulmonary hypertension, type II diabetes, erectile dysfunction, depression, memory loss and numerous other health problems.

Past research has shown that patients suffering from untreated OSA are two to three times more likely to be involved in traffic accidents than the general population and are at high risk... Click here to read full article