Facts
  • 40 million Americans suffer from some form of Sleep Disordered Breathing (SDB).
  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) may be present in 20-40% of the adult population who snore.
  • As many as ninety percent of people with OSA have not been diagnosed.
  • An individual with untreated apnea is up to four times more likely to have a stroke and 3 times more likely to have heart disease and twice as likely to have hypertension.
  • Studies show that OSA causes hypertension; one study showed that eighty percent of patients with drug-resistant hypertension have OSA.
  • Untreated OSA results in decreased work productivity, resulting in a cost of around $5 billion annually in the US.
  • Approximately three of every four bariatric surgery candidates have OSA.
  • Patients with untreated OSA who undergo anesthesia for surgery are at greater risk for complications during surgery than people without OSA.
  • Weight gain can increase a person’s chances of developing moderate to severe OSA.
  • Patients with undiagnosed and untreated OSA have higher medical costs.
  • People with OSA are six times more likely to have a car crash than those without the disease.
  • Untreated OSA increases the risk of complications and even death from related chronic diseases, such as stroke, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.
  • Treatment of OSA results in fewer hospitalizations from related diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes.