{"id":3027,"date":"2020-01-21T00:14:55","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T08:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T13:32:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T20:32:47","slug":"from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/","title":{"rendered":"From The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n Press Release<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

From The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n \n January 21, 2020<\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n \n
\n\n \n \n \n
\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n
Sleep loss caused by apnea is a major cause of health problems \u2013 and misery. (Photo\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n \n \n \n\n<\/div>\n \n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\r\n\r\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n

For millions of people who suffer from sleep apnea, getting a good night\u2019s sleep is an elusive dream. Patients with\u00a0obstructive sleep apnea<\/a>\u00a0have blockages of breathing while they sleep, leading to snoring, disruption of sleep and the drowsiness or fatigue that often occur. The ailment also can lead to\u00a0serious health problems<\/a>\u00a0such as high blood pressure and a risk of heart attack or stroke.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Article author Eric Kezirian, MD, MPH. (Photo\/Ricardo Carrasco III)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Sleep apnea affects about\u00a018 million adults<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S.
\nand an estimated\u00a01 billion people<\/a>\u00a0worldwide. Many are treated successfully with\u00a0continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)<\/a>\u00a0machines that allow them to breathe by keeping their airways open.<\/p>\n

But about one-third of patients who do not tolerate continuous positive airway pressure machines must look for other options, including surgery or oral appliances. There is a wide range of surgical procedures that open the space for breathing in the throat by removing or repositioning structures such as the soft palate (back of the roof of the mouth) or tongue. Although many patients do well with surgery, the results are far from perfect.<\/p>\n

As a sleep surgeon and professor of\u00a0otolaryngology<\/a>\u00a0and head and neck surgery, I have focused on evaluation and surgery for obstructive sleep apnea and snoring. My\u00a0research<\/a>\u00a0has examined why some patients do well and others do not with surgical procedures, and if someone who doesn\u2019t fare well with surgery will also not tolerate other treatments.<\/p>\n

A robber of breath, and of health<\/strong><\/p>\n

The dangers of apnea go beyond loss of sleep, although that is so important for those who have sleep apnea and seldom feel rested.<\/p>\n

While continuous positive airway pressure machines help thousands of people, many thousands more are not helped by them. Surgery and oral appliances are options in some cases.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Some patients find relief with the use of a CPAP machine, but it isn\u2019t the best option for everyone. (Photo\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Oral appliances, mouthpieces that typically open the space for breathing by holding the lower jaw forward,\u00a0can work well<\/a>. But, they do not work at all if a patient is not comfortable sleeping with it. And many are not.<\/p>\n

Surgery is an option in this group, but even surgery, which traditionally moves or repositions tissue, has not always helped.<\/p>\n

A device that can be surgically implanted to stimulate the tongue has been showing promise since 2011.<\/p>\n

The Food and Drug Administration, based on a study showing that the procedure\u00a0provides a major improvement in sleep apnea in about two-thirds of patients<\/a>, approved the device in 2014.<\/p>\n

Keck Medicine of USC is part of a group of centers collecting data from sleep apnea patients treated with this product, called Upper Airway Stimulation, in a study paid for by the company. The Upper Airway Stimulation system is placed inside the body during a surgery. The system works by stimulating the nerve that controls tongue movement to move the tongue forward to open the space for breathing in the throat.<\/p>\n

An implanted device showing promise<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently, we\u00a0examined data from nearly 300 patients<\/a>, including 80 with previous unsuccessful surgery. The typical measure of success for obstructive sleep apnea surgery has two parts: reducing by at least one-half the degree of sleep apnea and also leaving a patient with no or mild sleep apnea. We measure this by something called the apnea-hypopnea index, or the number of times per hour that breathing is blocked.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
With the right treatment, many apnea sufferers can start to enjoy the benefits of a good night\u2019s sleep. (Photo\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Our study showed that there was no clear difference in results for patients\u00a0with and without previous surgery for obstructive sleep apnea<\/a>. While physicians have often assumed that patients who do not see good results after one surgery will not do well with other procedures, our study showed that this was not true for the group as a whole.<\/p>\n

We also looked at specific types of patients to see if they were doing better or worse than others. We saw a possible decreased chance of success in those who were not obese (body mass index below 29.1 kg\/m2). This appeared to be related to the fact that those without previous surgery had such a high likelihood of success (80%-90%), whereas those with previous unsuccessful surgery had the same likelihood as the rest of the patients. Future studies will examine this question with even more patients to check on whether these findings are clearer.<\/p>\n

As someone who treats patients with obstructive sleep apnea, I see many patients who have had surgery but still suffer from obstructive sleep apnea and are looking for more options. Our study showed that new treatments that improve patient care for sleep apnea can be worth exploring.<\/p>\n

This article was updated with the full name of Keck Medicine of USC.<\/em><\/p>\n

Eric Kezirian<\/a>, Professor of Otolaryngology,\u00a0Keck Medicine of USC<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from\u00a0The Conversation<\/a>\u00a0under a Creative Commons license. Read the\u00a0original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":3028,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[56,59,16],"class_list":["post-3027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-featured","tag-featured-people","tag-otolaryngology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-21T08:14:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-23T20:32:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Apnea-Feature.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1271\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Keck School Media Relations\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@KeckSchool_USC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@KeckSchool_USC\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Keck School Media Relations\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7a561f66e227685c2825e2c2f40e8fa2\"},\"headline\":\"From The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-21T08:14:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-23T20:32:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":15,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Apnea-Feature.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Featured\",\"Featured People\",\"Otolaryngology\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/\",\"name\":\"From The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Apnea-Feature.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-21T08:14:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-23T20:32:47+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Apnea-Feature.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Apnea-Feature.jpg\",\"width\":1271,\"height\":850,\"caption\":\"Sleep loss caused by apnea is a major cause of health problems \u2013 and misery. (Photo\\\/Shutterstock)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Keck School of Medicine of USC\",\"alternateName\":\"Keck School of Medicine\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"Keck School of Medicine of USC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/KECKschoolUSC\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/KeckSchool_USC\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/school\\\/keckschoolusc\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/KeckSchoolUSC\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCpL1E1W5ZTfkc5iihwLSFEA\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@keckschoolusc\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7a561f66e227685c2825e2c2f40e8fa2\",\"name\":\"Keck School Media Relations\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6b319538a9488520b1cb0d3154ed0c97262d4d94d2b325f8260b196b9083b893?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6b319538a9488520b1cb0d3154ed0c97262d4d94d2b325f8260b196b9083b893?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6b319538a9488520b1cb0d3154ed0c97262d4d94d2b325f8260b196b9083b893?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Keck School Media Relations\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/ksommarketing\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach","og_url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/","article_published_time":"2020-01-21T08:14:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-23T20:32:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1271,"height":850,"url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Apnea-Feature.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Keck School Media Relations","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@KeckSchool_USC","twitter_site":"@KeckSchool_USC","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/"},"author":{"name":"Keck School Media Relations","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7a561f66e227685c2825e2c2f40e8fa2"},"headline":"From The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach","datePublished":"2020-01-21T08:14:55+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-23T20:32:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/"},"wordCount":15,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Apnea-Feature.jpg","keywords":["Featured","Featured People","Otolaryngology"],"articleSection":["Press Release"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/","name":"From The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Apnea-Feature.jpg","datePublished":"2020-01-21T08:14:55+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-23T20:32:47+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Apnea-Feature.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Apnea-Feature.jpg","width":1271,"height":850,"caption":"Sleep loss caused by apnea is a major cause of health problems \u2013 and misery. (Photo\/Shutterstock)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/from-the-conversation-a-long-sought-dream-for-sleep-apnea-patients-may-be-in-closer-reach\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From The Conversation: A long-sought dream for sleep apnea patients may be in closer reach"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"Keck School of Medicine of USC","alternateName":"Keck School of Medicine","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"Keck School of Medicine of USC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/","https:\/\/x.com\/KeckSchool_USC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/keckschoolusc\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/KeckSchoolUSC\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCpL1E1W5ZTfkc5iihwLSFEA","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@keckschoolusc"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7a561f66e227685c2825e2c2f40e8fa2","name":"Keck School Media Relations","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b319538a9488520b1cb0d3154ed0c97262d4d94d2b325f8260b196b9083b893?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b319538a9488520b1cb0d3154ed0c97262d4d94d2b325f8260b196b9083b893?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b319538a9488520b1cb0d3154ed0c97262d4d94d2b325f8260b196b9083b893?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Keck School Media Relations"},"url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/author\/ksommarketing\/"}]}},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Keck School Media Relations","author_link":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/author\/ksommarketing\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Apnea-Feature-300x201.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Press Release<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Press Release<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Featured<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Featured People<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Otolaryngology<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Featured<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Featured People<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Otolaryngology<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 6 years ago","modified":"Updated 6 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on January 21, 2020","modified":"Updated on October 23, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on January 21, 2020 12:14 am","modified":"Updated on October 23, 2025 1:32 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"Sleep loss caused by apnea is a major cause of health problems \u2013 and misery. (Photo\/Shutterstock)","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/168"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}