[The sleep apnea syndrome as a health problem. An estimation of its prevalence and morbimortality]

The sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is a frequent health problem and has severe consequences. In some reports, their main symptoms like habitual snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness and nocturnal respiratory pauses can affect up to 65, 22.2 and 27.9% of men, respectively, being less frequent in women. The incidence of SAS ranges between 4 and 7% of adult general population. Patients without treatment have an increased mortality (37% to 8 years). Between the complications that made this adverse outcome are cardiovascular problems (arterial hypertension, coronary artery disease, sudden death), cerebral infarctions and other derived from sleepiness like traffic crashes.