Sleep apnea is quite common - it's believed to affect as many adults as diabetes does. As such, there are many people who are forced to deal with it. The first step is to get a proper diagnosis.

If sleep apnea is suspected, your doctor can send you for a test known as a polysomnogram (PSG) which records various things while you sleep. It can help determine what form of sleep apnea you are suffering from, how severe a case it is, and what may be causing it.

There are a number of treatments that may be tried in order to find the best one for your particular situation. Different treatments will work for different people, often depending on their specific symptoms and how severe they are.

Treatment for sleep apnea can reduce and in many cases completely get rid of snoring which is one of the most common symptoms. Improving the snoring problem will help to decrease the number of apneic events over the course of a night, giving you a more restful sleep.

Treating sleep apnea will also have a positive effect during the day. Fatigue, drowsiness, lack of concentration, poor memory and irritability are all side effect of sleep apnea, and they will improve with the proper treatment.

Part of learning to deal with a sleep apnea problem is to make the necessary lifestyle changes to help improve it. This may include quitting smoking, losing weight, drinking less alcohol - especially later in the evening - and avoiding sleeping pills or sedatives to help you sleep.

In moderate to severe cases of sleep apnea, it may be necessary to wear a nose mask at night. This mask is part of a machine called a CPAP - continuous positive airway pressure - which helps to keep the throat open and improves the airflow when breathing.

In the worst cases of sleep apnea a mask may again be necessary, as part of a Bi-PAP machine (Bi-level positive airway pressure). This regulates airflow both into and out of the nose, at different levels of pressure.