Untreated heavy snoring and sleep disorders are costing the NHS millions of pounds a year, a leading specialist has claimed.
Obstructive sleep apnoea causes people to stop breathing for up to 45 seconds each minute throughout the night.
This disturbs their sleep, which leads to tiredness during the day, and it can lead to heart failure.
Sleep specialist Dr Thomas MacKay has warned that by not treating it, the NHS ends up footing the bill for all the health problems that then result.
He estimates that as many as 180,000 people in the UK suffer from the condition, but only one in five get the appropriate treatment. The rest do not know they have it and so do not seek treatment.
Dr MacKay is due to tell conference that if more people with the problem were properly diagnosed and treated it would have a huge economic impact on the NHS through reduced hospital admissions.
He will argue that it would also cut the rate of road traffic accidents. The DVLA estimates that 20% of all fatal road accidents are caused by someone falling asleep at the wheel.
The British Thoracic Society is calling on the Government to run a national education campaign to raise awareness of the problem.
Extra resources to diagnose and treat sleep problems would also help tackle the problem, it said.
BTS spokeswoman Dr Melissa Hack said: "The Government must act on sleep apnoea and it must act quickly.
"If we can treat the condition earlier we can save the NHS millions of pounds in reducing hospital admissions and other costs."