Dear Franz and other interested parties!

Weight is known to be a big factor in sleep apnea.  But then again, my
Dad is not overweight and he has it!  Their neighbour is certainly
overweight, on a heart disease risk diet (but that hasn't seemed to
make much difference to his shape!) and he has it very badly - if he
didn't use his machine, he'd probably be dead now.
Also involved is sleeping posture - so try not to go to sleep on your
back (hard to know when you're asleep though!)

So not to scare people, mild sleep apnea (not just snoring) will stop
you breathing during the night for up to a minute or so at a time, and
just doesn't let you get any/much deep sleep whilst it's happening.
My Dad said he never dreamed, (no proper deep then shallow (REM)
sleep), was starting to lose concentration during the day and couldn't
drive long distances any more. His machine changed that - now he can
even remember some of his dreams (and he said his first dreams were
very vivid - maybe making up for lost time!).
When breathing stops for 2-5 minutes (as was happening to their
neighbour) - this is when it is quite serious for the heart. (Can you
imagine not breathing for that long?!!!)

Glad to be of help,

Chloe Aldam
UK