Sleep is an important part of the body’s recovery of mental and physical strength, and 1/3 of a person’s life is spent in sleep. However, in today’s society, sleep disorders, especially sleep apnea syndrome, are plaguing more and more people. Sleep apnea syndrome is the recurrence of apnea during sleep. Apnea, i.e., oral and nasal breathing pauses for more than 10 seconds; recurrent episodes of apnea of more than 30 times or Sleep Apnea Disorder Index (average number of sleep apnea + hypoventilation per hour) more than 5 times during 7 hours of sleep per night, is pathological sleep apnea syndrome. In fact, sleep apnea is a common and prevalent disease, with a reported incidence of 0.7-10.9% in the United States in recent years, including 2.3-6.3% in women. Mostly seen in men over 40 years old, with old age and weight gain, the incidence will further increase, and this prevalence is already comparable to asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Shanghai is entering an aging society, and there is actually a huge population of sleep apnea syndrome lurking in the city. Japan has warned that “sleep disordered breathing disease will be the national disease of the 21st century”. Moreover, sleep apnea syndrome is a serious disease, which will not only lead to daytime fatigue, reduced work efficiency and concentration, memory loss, etc., but also affect the function of various organs of the body, leading to diabetes, myocardial infarction risk greatly increased, strokes, hypertension, etc., and poor function of organs and affect the quality of sleep, forming a vicious circle. In addition, according to statistics, driving drowsiness accounted for 25% of the causes of traffic accidents, while snoring-induced drowsiness accounted for almost 98% of driving drowsiness, is the direct cause of malignant traffic accidents. For this reason, the United States has started a sleep apnea syndrome census for professional drivers, and special medical consultation and mandatory treatment for patients. In China, the Ministry of Transportation has also set up a special study. Worryingly, it has not yet attracted enough attention from the country, and people are still accustomed to treat snoring as a commonplace life phenomenon. Sleep apnea syndrome is divided into three types: 1. Obstructive type, which means no airflow in the nose and mouth, but chest and abdominal breathing still exists. This type accounts for most of the sleep apnea, and often has upper airway obstruction caused by narrowing of the upper airway, especially the nose and pharynx, such as obesity, nasal polyps, soft palate relaxation, and excessive length and thickness of the uvula. The manifestation is snoring of different degrees, holding awake, often with panic and chest tightness after holding awake, even cyanosis and coma during sleep. 2.Central type, referring to the simultaneous suspension of nasal and oral airflow and thoraco-abdominal respiratory movement without obvious snoring, mostly with lesions of the nervous system or motor system. 3.Mixed type refers to the process of one apnea with central apnea at the beginning followed by obstructive apnea. In addition, sleep respiratory medicine also involves sleep hypoventilation syndrome and overlap syndrome (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease combined with the presence of sleep apnea) and the like. There are various causes of sleep apnea, such as obesity, hypothyroidism, cerebrovascular disease, neuromuscular disease and abnormal findings in the pentatomes (head and maxillofacial anomalies, nasal congestion, tonsillar hypertrophy, small jaw deformities). The presence of obstructive sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome needs to be suspected, including the presence of habitual/disturbing snoring, cessation of breathing or a feeling of suffocation during sleep, unexplained daytime drowsiness/lack of sleepiness or arrhythmias and reduced oxygen saturation during sleep. For people at risk, they should go to a specialized general hospital for a complete consultation. After the cause and classification of the disease is clarified by the first consultation with a respiratory specialist, a comprehensive treatment plan should be developed in conjunction with neurology, dentistry and quintessential medicine specialists. In fact, the diagnosis of respiratory sleep apnea syndrome is not difficult, relying on medical history and physical signs, and the diagnosis can be presumed by observing the patient for 15 minutes after falling asleep. Patients with suspected or high-risk groups can undergo polysomnography monitoring to clarify the cause of the onset and the extent of the condition. Polysomnography (PSG) is the internationally recognized gold standard for the diagnosis of sleep apnea syndrome. It is a non-invasive test that allows the use of polysomnography, an advanced monitoring method, to monitor the whole process of sleep, record and analyze the data of several physiological functions of the patient during sleep, in order to understand the real situation of sleep, assess the type and degree of sleep apnea in an objective, scientific and quantitative way. At the same time, it can be used to detect organic brain lesions, Parkinson’s, epilepsy and other neurological disorders, and the clinic can carry out corresponding treatment based on the results, as well as objectively assess the effectiveness of sleep apnea treatment. Moreover, CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) ventilator is the most effective treatment method for sleep apnea syndrome, which can eliminate nocturnal breathing disorder and improve sleep structure in patients with sleep apnea syndrome, thus playing a therapeutic role in organism damage and complications caused by sleep apnea. Once the primary cause of the sleep apnea syndrome is identified, further effective measures can be taken to intervene. These include medical and surgical treatments. Internal treatment recommends abstinence from smoking and alcohol, right-sided lying, no full meals before bedtime, no sleeping pills, treatment of diseases associated with the onset such as obesity, thyroxine supplementation in hypothyroidism, and corresponding treatment of comorbidities such as hypertension and heart disease, respiratory stimulants or drugs that increase upper airway opening and reduce upper airway resistance, such as ephedrine nasal drops before bedtime for nasal congestion (contraindicated in hypertension), and drugs that alter drugs that alter sleep architecture such as chlorpromazine and protriptyline. Transnasal oxygenation is effective for hypoxia caused by hypoventilation, but for apnea caused by upper airway obstruction it can cancel the stimulation of the respiratory center by hypoxia and worsen apnea. Noninvasive mechanical ventilation is a commonly used and most effective method for obstructive patients, which can significantly reduce the number of apneas and hypoxemia, reverse the pathophysiological changes of the disease, significantly improve the quality of life of patients, improve their prognosis, and reduce medical costs. Moreover, the machine is small and easy to carry, simple to use and easy to tolerate. Orthodontic and orthodontic treatment is also commonly used as a non-invasive treatment method. Commonly used orthodontic devices include snoring treatment devices, adjustable soft palate supraspinatus, tongue treatment devices, and orthodontic devices that change the position of jaw posture, etc. The decision of which orthodontic device to use should be made by a sleep and breathing specialist and then by an oral specialist. Surgical procedures, such as tracheotomy and ostomy, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty and mandibular advancement, can address upper airway obstruction. However, surgery does not address central neurosensitivity and muscle dysfunction and should therefore be weighed carefully. In conclusion, although today’s society has a large obese and elderly population and a high prevalence of sleep apnea syndrome, the proper understanding of it still needs to be improved and most patients are not being properly diagnosed and treated today. Medical professionals and health departments need to strengthen the publicity and efforts to promote early diagnosis and standardized treatment for people suffering from sleep apnea, just as the theme of World Sleep Day 2009 states, “Scientific management of sleep, so that people can sleep and breathe healthily.