Patients suffering from sleep apnea literally choke on their own tissues within the throat when sleeping and the resultant fragmented nightly rest can lead to serious medical conditions if left untreated.
Sleep apnea is when breathing stops while sleeping. It is a non painful condition and patients usually do not know that they are apneic. The complications of sleep apnea are mostly related to heart, lungs and other psychological problems. To diagnose sleep apnea; a sleep study is done either partial or complete known as polysomnography [PSG].
The treatment could be conservative such life style change, surgical or on CPAP machine.