Although sleep disorders are more likely to be identified today than ever before, it took many years for such recognition to occur. Experts believe OSAS was first described by Charles Dickens in The Pickwick Papers. The first mention of it in medical literature appeared in the British Medical Journal in 1889.7 In spite of these early descriptions, sleep research was not established as a legitimate field of study until the 1950s. Today, OSAS is associated with such a wide range of cardiovascular and neurobehavioral problems that it could be considered a major public health problem