Sleep apnea - it can happen to anyone at anytime.

"A respiratory disorder in your sleep, basically the collapse of the upper airways during sleep," says Dr. Marco Dotti, a sleep medicine specialist.

He says it's a disorder that's more common than we may think.

"Sleep apnea consists of decreased breathing, not always stopping breathing actually, most patients don't stop breathing completely causing micro-interruption of sleep so the patient wakes up in the middle of the night not even knowing that," he says.

And he says 50% of people don't show any symptoms like waking up with a dry mouth, headache, or fatigue.

"The classic story is a patient is not a problem with the person but a spouse is worried, a spouse realizes there is something abnormal," says Dr. Dotti.

But doctors have ways to test for it.

"The patient will lie down here and you can see this really isn't a hospital bed so it tends to be more comfortable, I usually tell my patients you will spend the night in a hotel so it's quite comfortable and the temperature needs to be adequate, not very warm. And the patient will spend the night here and they need to take all their medications they usually take and we will not only look at sleep apnea but abnormal movement during sleep. Sleep apnea is not the only problem we're looking at, and we will be monitoring particularly the airflow, we will monitor the air coming through the nose and mouth and so we will be very sensitive in causing a decrease in breathing," he says.

And there are ways to treat it.

Dr. Dotti says, "Number one option is a continuous positive airway pressure, basically a fan that blows air under pressure and this air will open up your throat so you can breathe at night without any snoring without any interruption of your breathing."

There is also a mouth piece that brings your jaw forward, and surgery.

But if it goes untreated, it can be deadly.

"The diagnosis and treatment also lead usually to improvement of lifestyle, so it's important for every patient needs to sleep longer and lose weight, so this is important and by treating sleep apnea patients have more energy, feel less hungry and they tend to lose weight," he says.

Dr. Dotti says it's also important to talk with your dentist and your physician to find out if you have sleep apnea.