New Patient Resources on MyApnea Low awareness about sleep apnea symptoms and/or positive airway pressure (PAP) treatment options can be a barrier to management of sleep apnea. Developing materials that are clear and easy to use is critical for reducing barriers to OSA care. The MyApnea team, in partnership with interdisciplinary stakeholders, including patients, providers, and community members, has just launched a new set of resources that are developed by patients for patients. Keep reading
Philips Recall – Update for patients As you likely are aware, Philips Respironics issued a voluntary recall of certain sleep and respiratory care products to address potential health risks related to the polyester-based polyurethane (PE-PUR) sound abatement foam in these devices. This news likely was jarring to patients with these devices. Keep reading
Our team recently spoke with patients with sleep apnea across the US and asked them what they wanted to know about sleep apnea and Covid-19. To answer some common questions, we developed a "Living with Sleep Apnea" Fact Sheet on Covid-19. This is a first of a series of helpful tools for patients with sleep apnea. Click below to view and download the Fact Sheet: Keep reading
Researchers at University of New South Wales (UNSW) are conducting a study about whether a theoretical new treatment system for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) would be acceptable to people with OSA. This theoretical treatment has two parts – a one-off injection to the tongue that sensitises the tongue muscles to a specific type of light. The patient would then wear a mouthguard device at night that shines light on the tongue activating the muscles and keeping the airway open. Keep reading
Submitted by Susan Redline, MD, MPH. Professor of Sleep Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School As many people are aware, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes are associated with more severe Covid-19 infections. However, an important question is whether sleep apnea is an unrecognized or hidden risk factor for complications from Covid-19 and whether positive airway pressure (PAP), used to treat sleep apnea, changes this risk. Keep reading
Excerpt of an article written by Dr. Suzanne Bertisch and originally published by the Harvard Health Blog. These are unprecedented times. Given the threat of the coronavirus pandemic on us personally, our communities, and our society, it is normal to experience anxiety and sleep problems. Sleep is a reversible state marked by a loss of consciousness to our surroundings. As members of the animal kingdom, our brains have evolved to respond to dangers by increasing vigilance and attention. Keep reading
Keeping your CPAP machine clean can be a challenge. To help people using CPAP, there are many automated machines that claim to clean or disinfect CPAPs. You may have seen these advertised on TV, or you may even use one! On February 27, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that "you should think twice before buying a machine that claims to clean or disinfect a CPAP". The FDA specifically warned about CPAP cleaning devices that use ozone or ultraviolet light. Keep reading
For a long time, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was considered to be a disease that mostly affected men. Today, women are being diagnosed more often. But still, 3-to-5 times more men are diagnosed than women. MyApnea founder, Dr. Susan Redline, and a team of researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Yale School of Medicine set out to understand how sleep apnea presents in men and women and its impact on diagnosis and health impact. For a long time, Dr. Keep reading
I don’t know how you are but sometimes the obvious is not at all obvious to me. I use a CPAP machine faithfully and have for several years. Honestly, I do not sleep well at all without it. With that said, I never thought about what I would do if I didn’t have it available or if I lost it. Recently I had a small stroke. My main concern was taking two baby aspirin and getting to the emergency room. Keep reading
For the last decades, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been treated with positive airways pressure devices, usually CPAP. But as many patients will attest, CPAP is often uncomfortable and can make it difficult to sleep both for the patient and bedpartner. A number of researchers, including Andrew Wellman and his colleagues at Brigham and Women’s, have sought to go beyond CPAP by developing drug treatments for OSA. Keep reading
