Sleep apnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a recurrent apnea during sleep, resulting in nocturnal hypoxia, hypercapnia and sleep institutional disorders. It is manifested when the patient has sleep apnea syndrome, due to recurrent hypoxemia at night, repeatedly suffocating awakenings, poor sleep quality, the patient wakes up in the morning with headache, sleepiness, sleeplessness, and prominently in daytime sleepiness, which leads to accidents at work (especially in drivers). Severe patients may also show increased nocturnal urination, decreased sexual function, and in severe cases, coma, convulsions, urinary incontinence, and other symptoms. The disease is common in people with severe snoring, obesity and small jaws, and has a family tendency to run in families. The disease is highly prevalent among patients with cerebrovascular disease. The danger of this disease is so great that it should be taken seriously. As apnea occurs during sleep, it causes fresh air to fail to enter the lungs for gas exchange with the blood, thus causing blood hypoxia. Since all organs of the body need blood for oxygen supply, apnea causes systemic acute and chronic hypoxia to the body. Cardiology Hypertension and coronary heart disease According to a multi-year follow-up survey, 56.6% of OSAHS patients have combined hypertension, 16.7% have combined coronary heart disease, and 7.1% have had a stroke. In 2003, OSAHS was identified as the leading cause of secondary hypertension in the seventh report of the National Committee on Prevention, Monitoring, Evaluation and Treatment of Hypertension in the United States. Clinical studies have found that many unexplained hypertension, pulmonary hypertension and abnormal glucose tolerance are associated with OSAHS. Patients treated for OSAHS have been followed by remission and recovery from these conditions. Endocrinology Diabetes A report presented in 2007 by researchers at Yale University School of Medicine noted that patients with OSAHS have a significantly increased risk of developing type II diabetes. The researchers also found that the more severe the degree of sleep apnea, the greater the risk of diabetes. It is now tentatively believed that sleep apnea may trigger a series of reactions in the body, including elevated cortisol hormone levels. In addition, the low oxygen levels in the body caused by sleep apnea may also be an important factor in triggering diabetes. Patients with type II diabetes in combination with OSAHS receiving noninvasive ventilator therapy have good adjunctive effect on the treatment of the primary disease. Insulin sensitivity was significantly improved; postprandial glucose levels were significantly lowered; and the patients’ mean arterial pressure was significantly lowered. Neurology Stroke The incidence of cerebral infarction is 3-10 times higher in patients with OSAHS than in those without habitual snoring. During sleep, patients are prone to ischemic cerebral infarction at night due to cerebral atherosclerosis, increased blood viscosity and erythrocyte specific volume, and enhanced platelet aggregation during hypoxia. Patients may also suffer from hemorrhagic cerebral infarction due to shallow sleep at night, increased awakenings, sleep fragmentation and poor night rest, and easy increase in blood pressure and intracranial pressure. OSAHS has a greater impact on the risk of cerebrovascular disease than smoking and heart disease, and is a risk factor that cannot be ignored. Personality changes Adult OSAHS patients may have personality changes, mood abnormalities, abnormal movements during sleep, decreased libido, and erectile dysfunction in men. Children with OSAHS may have sleep terrors, sleepwalking, night sweats, enuresis, abnormal daytime behavior, lethargy, loss of appetite, growth abnormalities, and recurrent upper respiratory infections, affecting every aspect of functional, emotional, cognitive, and social development. Traffic accidents Daytime sleepiness in OSAHS patients increases the chance of traffic accidents. The average risk ratio of traffic accidents for patients to controls over a 5-year period is 73:1, with an increasing trend each year, and the higher the degree of OSAHS, the higher the chance of traffic accidents or even death.