“Sleep is just as important for health as diet and exercise,” says Marishka Brown, director of the US National Center on Sleep Disorders Research. Sleep is foundational.”Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is one of the most common types of apnea, affecting an estimated 1 billion people worldwide. It occurs when the upper airway repeatedly collapses during sleep, interfering with breathing and lowering oxygen levels. “There’s strong evidence now that sleep apnea is not just a marker of being unfit. However, those who received treatment for their sleep apnea had the same onset age as those without sleep-disordered breathing.