I do as I suffer from sleep apnea. For those that don't know what sleep apnea is, it is not caused by weight as I am 5'11" and 187 pounds. Sleep apnea is caused when your airway is blocked and you stop breathing. I was tested and through the night, I stopped breathing over 600 times per night up to nearly 30 seconds at a time. What happens is my oxygen level to the brain drops from a normal 90+% to 60% and then my heart rate will rise from a normal of 62 to nearly 130 beats per minute as my body attempts to get oxygen. I believe I have had this for years but never knew until my wife told me I stop breathing. Sleep apnea is extremely dangerous if not treated as due to the lack of oxygen, people suffer strokes. My father, four of his brothers and my grandfather all had strokes. Ever wonder why so many strokes occur at night? Sleep apnea is one of the causes as people don't know they aren't breathing. Since using the mask, tests have shown I never stop breathing during the night. For those of you who think it is funny not to wear it, all I can say is you're real gamblers, as you are risking your life.
Honestly Ted, you have to wonder about the intelligence level on this forum at times (rolling my eyes at Steak Tartar and Tinco...grab a clue guys). No, you don't have to be overweight to have sleep apnea. I have a CPAP and so do a few of my clients. For many, it's been life changing. Prior to having a CPAP, it was a rarity for me to go into a deep sleep. You wake feeling tired and sluggish. My incidents of apnea was considered moderate, so I wasn't as bad as most. But as you said Ted, this is a very serious problem for many and life threatening. I guess some don't feel their life is worth all that much.
