Answer: Sleep apnea is a condition where your airway becomes closed off while you sleep. The lack of oxygen causes you to choke and wake up so you can breathe. The most common cause of sleep apnea is being overweight; With the extra fat around the abdomen and neck, it becomes harder to breath when you are sleeping because when you sleep your breaths become shallower to begin with.Sleep apnea contributes to weight gain by causing you to lose sleep every night. You are exhausted every day, and eventually this chronic exhaustion causes your metabolism to slow; you don't have enough energy to waste, basically. Also, it will cause you to seek sugars that are high in carbohydrates in hopes of gaining energy. Additionally, the lack of sleep contributes to stress which triggers hormonal changes that lead to weight gain.So sleep apnea leads to exhaustion which leads to stress which leads to cardiac disease, hypertension weight gain which leads to cardiac disease, hypertension and diabetes (which causes cardiac disease and hypertension) and leads to...worse sleep apnea. Can you see how all these feed off each other?I wouldn't waste my money on the Nikken system unless you just want a new bed. The Nikken products may be exceedingly comfortable, but sleep apnea has nothing to do with how comfy your bed is.Your best bet is to talk to a doctor; he can get you in for a sleep study to find out if you have sleep apnea (they watch you sleep and count how many times you stop breathing). If you do have sleep apnea, it is fortunately very treatable. If you already overweight, then dropping some poundage might be all it takes. You may also need a CPAP machine to sleep with at night, which will push oxygen into your lungs and keep your airway open so that you don't wake up choking.