If untreated, sleep apnea can contribute to a great increase in the risk of heart attack and stroke, and severe sleep apnea sufferers are more than six times more likely to develop serious cancers, reports The County Press.

Luan and Dr. Tom Jackson care about the way you sleep. Or more specifically, they care about what happens when you lay your head on the pillow and drift off into dreamland.

Operating the Sleep Center adjacent to Jackson Dental on 456 S. Main St. in Lapeer, the couple have helped dozens in the Lapeer area diagnose snoring, but what they’re really passionate about is sleep apnea — a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts, often unknown to those suffering.

“A lot of people with sleep apnea snore, but just because you snore doesn’t mean you have sleep apnea,” said Tom Jackson. “But they’re both because of constricted airways, and that’s the key for treating it.”