5 things you didn’t know about ... obstructive sleep apnea

What is it: This common disorder occurs when throat muscles relax and cause breathing to repeatedly stop or become very shallow. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes and occur up to 30 times an hour. After a pause, normal breathing may resume with a loud snort or choking sound. Sufferers often snore loudly. A University of Wisconsin study published this month shows that over an 18-year period, people with severe, untreated sleep apnea died at a rate more than three times that of those without apnea.