There are three kinds: Obstructive, where the tissue in the back of the throat closes; Central, where the brain stops telling you to breathe; and third is Mixture, a combination of the two. When the person stops breathing, they wake up to breathe for a moment and fall back asleep, without realizing they have, and because they are always waking up, they don't get very much sleep.
Unfortunately, sleep apnea is as common as adult diabetes; it affects over 12 million Americans. Dang that sucks.
A couple signs of sleep apnea may include snoring, irritability, feeling very tired all the time, talking to people in your sleep and not remembering it later (I have some great stories about this one!). If undiagnosed it can cause high blood pressure, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches.
Treatment is available (yay!). CPAP (Continuous positive airway
pressure) is a machine that fits over your face and covers your nose to create enough steady pressure to keep your throat open the whole night (see picture). For Central Sleep Apnea, you can use an oxygen tank to try and keep you breathing. Also, a BiPAP machine is like the CPAP, but instead of having steady pressure, the BiPAP increases the pressure as you inhale, and decreases the pressure as you exhale.Obviously there are more options for treatment of sleep apnea, but I don't want to bore you to death (sorry if I already have).
Sources...if you actually care
America Sleep Apnea Association
Mayo Clinic
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