The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the first person in Nevada has received the Inspire transplant for the treatment of sleep apnea.

Carson City resident Don Fox couldn’t take it anymore.

The 72-year-old, who said he has suffered from sleep apnea for at least a decade, was often tired and took pills before resting.

He’d tried continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP — a common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea that keeps airways open during sleep. But it didn’t work well for him.

“CPAP, it just blows you away. You can’t sleep,” he said.

A few years ago, Fox, who also has emphysema, began tracking a treatment method that wasn’t yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: the Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation System.

This month, he became the first patient in Nevada to receive the Inspire implant, company spokesman Howard J. Green said.

Get the full story at www.reviewjournal.com