My surgeon says that around 98% of his patients have sleep apnea. Now that stat does seem a bit high. Either he is being duped by skewed data by the sleep center he uses or he's benefiting somehow. Either way, I think it's a scam in general.
That being said, I think it truly exists. My husband who is not overweight, has it. Without his mask, he snores like a train!
I just did my sleep study and it was pure hell. I had to take an ambien which didn't work. 3 hours of softly crying turned into a full blown panic attack. But instead of ripping all the wires off and running like I wanted, I stayed with it because I want this so badly.
Well, it's no shocked that I have sleep apnea. They found something wrong with my breathing after 2 hours of sleep after being drugged and in distress. I've never slept on my back but they made me do so, never snored but I've always breathed very lightly. Never a problem. My mom finally got used to it looking like I wasn't breathing.
So now another night of hell to see how much pressure I need. Maybe I'll give my machine to my husband to replace is old one.
I think they see a fat person come in and see dollar signs.