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What is sleep apnea?
Learn what sleep apnea is, including its causes, signs and symptoms, health risks, treatment options, and ways to help prevent it.
One of the most important parts of health and well-being is getting enough quality sleep. But for people with sleep apnea, that often feels like just a dream.
Sleep apnea disrupts breathing, causing brief pauses that can keep you from reaching deep sleep and wake you up throughout the night.
It’s estimated that 30 million people in the United States and 1 billion globally live with sleep apnea.1,2
But only a small percentage get a diagnosis and treatment. Over time, the lack of quality sleep adds up. If left untreated, this can lead to serious health risks, including heart problems, diabetes and mental health concerns. It can also worsen existing health conditions, weaken your immune system and harm your overall quality of life.
The good news is, with the right diagnosis and treatment, many people with sleep apnea can effectively manage their condition. This can help them get better sleep and improve their overall health and well-being.
Keep reading to dive deeper into what sleep apnea is, and learn about common symptoms, associated health risks and when to talk to a provider.
What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is a condition where your breathing stops and starts repeatedly while you’re asleep. The reason this happens depends on the type of sleep apnea you have. And how often it happens depends on the severity of your condition.
If you have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which is the most common type, it’s because the muscles in your throat, including your tongue, relax in a way that blocks your airway. This causes your airway to narrow, close or become blocked, making it difficult or impossible to breathe. When this happens, your brain tells you to wake up and breathe. You may or may not remember waking up. You go through this cycle several times or even hundreds of times throughout the night, depending on if you have mild, moderate or severe OSA.
If you have central sleep apnea (CSA), your brain doesn’t consistently send the necessary signals to your muscles to breathe while you sleep. As a result, you might stop breathing for a short period, causing you to wake up suddenly and gasp for air. This can also make it harder to fall or stay asleep. How often it happens depends on the severity of your condition.
If you have complex or mixed sleep apnea (CompSA), then you experience both OSA and CSA symptoms.
OSA, CSA and CompSA sleep apnea events can cause your blood oxygen levels to drop, which is not good for your brain or body function. We’ll share more about the related health risks below.
What are the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea?
The signs and symptoms for OSA and/or CSA often overlap:
You’re a loud sleeper who snores, snorts or gasps for air.
You frequently wake up with a dry mouth, sore throat or headache.
Others notice you stop breathing during sleep.
You’re restless while sleeping, tossing and turning.
You often feel tired during the day, and might fall asleep during regular activities, like working, driving or watching TV.
You have difficulty concentrating or remembering things.
You frequently get common colds.
Your sex drive has decreased considerably.
You experience changes in your behavior and attitude, like mood swings or irritability.
Many people with sleep apnea don’t realize they have it. If these signs and symptoms seem familiar to you, it’s a good idea to consult a medical or mental health provider. You may have sleep apnea or another condition that could benefit from diagnosis and treatment.
What causes sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea can affect anyone of any background, including children. It is most common among males, older adults, people who are overweight or have obesity, and those with a family history of sleep apnea.
The structure of your nose, throat or airway can also play a role in sleep apnea. This includes things like large tonsils or adenoids, a smaller upper airway, a thick neck, or reduced muscle tone in your neck or airway.
Lifestyle choices can increase the risk of developing sleep apnea, like smoking, drinking alcohol and using certain substances, including some prescription medications.
Many medical conditions can also increase your risk of developing sleep apnea. These include congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, hormone disorders, prior stroke, chronic lung disease like asthma, obesity and Down syndrome.
What health risks are linked to sleep apnea?
When you have sleep apnea, it can lead to many serious health risks – including high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, weight gain, type 2 diabetes and injuries due to accidents and depression – especially if left untreated.
In addition, sleep apnea can cause complications with some surgeries and medications, including general anesthesia. This is because it can affect your breathing and oxygen levels during surgery.
How is sleep apnea diagnosed?
If you’re concerned you or someone you care about may have sleep apnea, it’s important to consult a medical provider.
To diagnose sleep apnea, your provider may have you do a sleep study in a lab or take an at-home test, depending on how severe your symptoms are. These tests check your brain activity, eye movement, heart rate, breathing, air flow and blood oxygen levels while you sleep to see if you have sleep apnea, what type and how severe it is.
The test looks for sleep apnea events, meaning where you stop breathing for short periods. For people with moderate (stop breathing 15-30 times per hour) to severe (stop breathing more than 30 times per hour) sleep apnea, treatment is important. The more often and severely your breathing pauses, the greater the health risks.
What are the treatment options for sleep apnea?
A variety of treatment options are available for sleep apnea. Providers make recommendations based on your sleep apnea severity, symptoms, age and overall health. The following are among the most common:
Lifestyle changes – These may include adjusting your sleeping position, losing excess weight, and avoiding smoking, alcohol and substance use. Increasing physical activity and doing “myofunctional therapy” exercises to strengthen your tongue, mouth and throat muscles can also help improve breathing.
While these changes won’t necessarily cure sleep apnea, they can help reduce the severity of OSA, especially in mild to moderate conditions. Their impact on CSA is less known. It's important to note: For people with obesity, weight loss can help reduce OSA symptoms. But weight loss alone may not bring sleep apnea to a safe level, and many people may need additional treatment.3
Breathing devices – A continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) machine is commonly prescribed for people with moderate to severe OSA or CSA. It’s a device that delivers air through a hose and mask to help keep the airway open during sleep.
About half of patients4 prescribed CPAP therapy struggle with or stop using it and may be given other treatment options. For CSA, an alternative to CPAP is adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV). This device also delivers pressurized air but adjusts the amount based on your breathing pattern. Other breathing devices may also be prescribed, as necessary. For OSA, if CPAP doesn’t work, your provider may recommend a nerve stimulator, like Inspire® therapy, or explore other options.
Nerve stimulator implant – Nerve stimulation therapies have been approved for both OSA and CSA. These treatments involve implanting a small device during a short procedure. The implanted device sends electrical pulses to a specific nerve. In both cases, the device works inside your body without the use of a mask or hose, and you control your therapy with the use of a remote.
For OSA, hypoglossal nerve stimulation delivers gentle pulses to the hypoglossal nerve, which controls the tongue and some airway muscles. The stimulation helps keep your airway open, so you can breathe regularly and sleep soundly. You simply turn the therapy on before going to bed and turn it off when you’re ready to start the day. Inspire® therapy is the leading FDA-approved hypoglossal nerve stimulation therapy for OSA. For CSA, phrenic nerve stimulation targets the phrenic nerve, which controls the diaphragm. The electrical pulses stimulate the diaphragm, helping you breathe steadily.
Dental appliances – Mouthpieces can be used to reposition the jaw and tongue to help improve breathing and reduce sleep apnea events in mild cases for both OSA and CSA.
Surgery – For OSA, various surgical procedures can address structural issues in the nose, mouth, throat or jaw to improve airflow. The specific type of surgery would depend on your unique needs. These typically require hospitalization and longer recovery than less-invasive treatment options.
What can I do to prevent sleep apnea?
Because your sleep apnea may be linked to factors outside of your control, such as your family history or health conditions, it’s not always preventable. But you can take steps to manage it and reduce its severity. These include:
Taking care of your overall health and well-being, including eating nutritious foods, staying active and managing stress.
Creating and following a sleep routine, such as going to bed and waking up at the same time each day, limiting screen time and having a comfortable environment.
Maintaining a healthy weight.
Avoiding smoking, drinking alcohol or using sedatives
Staying on top of preventive care needs, like checkups, immunizations, tests and screenings, to support your overall health and well-being.
Adhering to treatment plans for sleep apnea and any other existing conditions to help manage symptoms and reduce complications.
When to see a provider
If you are concerned you or someone you care about might have sleep apnea, talk to a medical provider, like a primary care provider. Depending on your signs and symptoms, they may refer you to a sleep disorder specialist. Early diagnosis and treatment are important to reduce health risks and improve your overall well-being.
Sources
American Medical Association, What doctors wish patients knew about sleep apnea. April 1, 2022.
Cleveland Clinic, Sleep Apnea: What It Is, Causes, Symptoms & Treatment. January 15, 2025.
Sleep Foundation, How Weight Affects Sleep Apnea. April 30, 2024.
Rotenberg et al. Trends in CPAP adherence over twenty years of data collection: a flattened curve. Journal of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery 2016; 45:43 | Weaver, TE, Sawyer, AM. "Adherence to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Implications for Future Inventions." Indian Journal of Medical Research, 2010; 131: 245-258.
ADHERE Registry: Data on File
HealthDirect, Obstructive sleep apnoea - symptoms and treatment. Accessed March 26, 2025.
Johns Hopkins Medicine, 4 Signs You Might Have Sleep Apnea. Accessed March 26, 2025.
Johns Hopkins Medicine, Sleep Apnea. Accessed March 26, 2025.
Mayo Clinic, Central sleep apnea – Diagnosis and treatment. July 11, 2023.
Mayo Clinic, Sleep apnea - Symptoms and causes. April 6, 2023.
NIH, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Sleep Apnea - What Is Sleep Apnea? January 9, 2025.