Excerpted from page 53 of the july august 2015 edition of aoa focus. It is more common in overweight men and 12 million adults in the us suffer from sleep apnea. Is Sleep Apnea Snoring Solutions4snoring With Images Dry Eye But the eyes may be a proverbial canary in the coal mine for obstructive sleep apnea osa the most common type of sleep disordered breathing which increases the overall risk of death one and a half times in serious cases patients who scored 30 or more on the apnea hypopnea index. Sleep apnea eyes . Sleep apnea adversely affects the delicate and fragile vessels in the eye particularly the retina. Sleep apnea and eye problems reported with cpap therapy include dry eyes red eyes swollen eyes skin around the eyes and redness of the eyelids and face around the eyes. Sleep apnea can affect your eyes. Researchers are studying what happens to the eye during apnea episodes by having patients wear special contact lenses while sleeping. Sleep is sometimes called shu...