People who suffer from sleep apnea can choose a number of treatment options, although none are perfect.

The most popular being a C-PAP mask (or continuous positive airway pressure mask) that's worn when the person sleeps. The mask-which looks like a traditional oxygen mask that's hooked up to a machine with tubes-gauges levels of the airway resistance and pushes air past the swollen tissue so you can breathe easier. Though it has a 90 to 95 percent success rate, its downside is inadequate patient compliance because many wearers don't like looking and sounding like Darth Vader when they go to bed-and many find the masks too uncomfortable to wear while they sleep.

There are also surgical treatments, which are about 50 percent successful. Surgery removes some of the obstructing tissue, which helps you breathe better and cure the apnea, and procedures that help you lose weight (such as gastric bypass surgery) are also effective and can help some people who have severe sleep apnea.

The biggest change can come from you, however. Losing just 10 pounds can decrease your episodes of sleep apnea by 30 percent, while gaining 10 pounds does the reverse-making weight loss even more effective than surgery. « Collapse

There are several treatment options for sleep apnea, which are listed below. Each option has advantages and disadvantages, and treatments have different success rates and levels of patient satisfaction. A full discussion of this is too complex for this format, so please discuss treatment options with your own physician. Treatment options are as follows:

Weight loss CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) or BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure). These are both worn during sleep and administered through a small mask or nasal pillows attached to a pressure machine. Sleep position modification. Oral and dental appliances. These custom-made devices can help hold the jaw and tongue in a position that prevents airway obstruction. Surgery. Several surgical options are available, including nasal/septal surgery, palate surgery, tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, tongue base reduction or suspension surgery, mandibular advancement, maxillary advancement, hyoid suspension, and tracheotomy.

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