In an attempt to breathe, a person either awakens or partially awakens gasping for breath. Since an individual is always awakening to catch their breath, they never get the deep restful sleep needed by the body. This is the reason for the excessive daytime sleepiness. Sleep apnea has been linked to heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, personality changes, impotence, depression, etc. The main symptom is excessive daytime sleepiness.
Statistics show that many traffic accidents are due to driver fatigue.
So, not only can we hurt ourselves, we can also inadvertently injure others. Research has shown that oral appliance therapy is very effective for mild and moderate sleep apnea, and very helpful for C-PAP intolerant severe sleep apneics. This therapy is also very effective for people that have had surgery and the surgery was not successful. In the near future there should be a strapless C-PAP mask attachment for the Thornton Adjustable Positioner. This combination therapy would be for the most severe apnea cases.