Biguglygremlin

I stumbled across this generalized summary some days back.

It discusses a few options I have not been aware of before.

Sleep Apnea: Latest Research

Has anybody had experience with any of those options?

I read something today and it seemed rather interesting, perhaps even pertinent to some recent discussions in this forum, but then I fried my last few neurons, so I thought I would link the study here and see if someone could simplify it for me or at least comment on it.

Mortality in Sleep Apnea Patients: A Multivariate Analysis of Risk Factors

You'll need to read the PDF.

This thread was designed to provoke discussion about the bigger picture surrounding CPAP therapy and associated issues.

Maybe it still can.

Are there any changes or new angles?

Does CPAP live up to your expectations?

How could it be improved?

What alternatives are there?

I have never been in favor of lessening the parameters, and I am very dubious about any process that brings more women and children into the domain of the sleep industry.

I believe that much of what is currently accepted as fact regarding Apnea, especially what is defined as mild Apnea, is based on a cumulative consensus built on probabilities and assumptions.

It seems to me that we are already at the point where the vast majority of men could be diagnosed with Apnea, to what purpose?

Are we aiming to inflict CPAP therapy on everybody?

I've cared for children with severe Apnea and yes it is a serious concern but is CPAP the answer?

Regarding women, why would their oxygen levels need to be different or the duration of their events?

I fail to understand why we would want to rig the diagnostic process to equal the genders when it comes to the numbers of supposed Apnea victims.

Surely the diagnostic process for women and children should be based on symptoms connected to proven health outcomes.

The heart monitoring process sounds interesting but once again it is founded, at least in part, on assumptions.

Wouldn't minor discomforts and dreams also alter the heart responses?

Many things impact heart function when we are sleeping.

Even if we could isolate and quantify some of the causes it might not directly establish a proven link to long-term health implications.

It seems to me that exercise, stress, and stimulation, are so closely related that the labels are interchangeable, at least within reasonable parameters.

But I heard it on the grapevine ...... those darned Muppets!

I've heard that starting rumours can be so much fun!

Especially if they are proven to be completely unfounded!

Otherwise, they could hardly be called rumours, could they?

I think, maybe the jury is still out on this one.

I live in a crazy world, a world without boxes, a world of chaos, but the interesting thing about chaos is that everything is connected and there are endless shifting patterns.

I agree that the vacuum might have a small benefit, largely because it is the opposite to increased pressure, both of which might impact on obstructions in the windpipe, but that brings us back to the blankets and Google is rather vague on that subject.

Some parameters might be helpful.

Most people nowadays buy quilts or doonas or ultra-lightweight acrylic blankets all of which are thick and fluffy and relatively light.

As with all things human, there is a trend in the opposite direction with deliberately weighted blankets that are guaranteed to cure cancer and prevent alien abductions. They even come in a version with metal rings which might help you sleep better when the partner is really miffed. (Just joking folks!)

My above query was not referring to any of those but just to the older style wool or cotton blankets that are thin, but relatively heavy.

In my imagining there can be little doubt that if someone is lying on their back and have three or four of those bunched up and tucked under the chin the weight directly on the throat would almost certainly compound any existing breathing difficulties even without the added weight on the chest and if you take the CPAP out of the picture and really chill the room the tendency to snuggle down, under the blankets, would drop oxygen levels significantly in those already pre-disposed.

It is ironic, and disconcerting, that so many of the searches to do with breathing problems amongst the aging echo back to the same issues for babies.

Now I'm going to lose sleep trying to figure out if I should tick all of the above or none of them! :)

I am getting sooooo dense! It took me till now to understand what you were so simply explaining.

Yes I have used water levels on building sites in the past but was picturing the clear hose somehow connected from the CPAP yet in the mouth which didn't make sense.

So I just hook up the gear as per usual to the nose and test the pressure as it escapes through the mouth!

Sorry about the 'glass half full' joke Sierra.

To be quite frank I don't properly understand your instructions above.

I'm definitely not the brightest cookie and I'm rapidly running out of marbles so maybe there is a simpler way for me to figure things out?

How and why does CPAP therapy work?

It seems obvious when the CPAP machine is pumping flowing, pressurized air up the nostrils but how far can you back off before it stops working?

A nasal mask doesn't direct it up the nostrils but still works.

The full face mask increases pressure around the face but still seems to work.

Why does pressure outside the body help force air into the body?

Would a diving helmet work?

How about a full-body space suit?

What if we extend the parameters to a pressurized room or bubble or humidi-crib?

CPAP has to fail at some point because it doesn't just depend on increased pressure.

Is the effect due to internal pressure versus external pressure at the throat and perhaps even the lungs?

If so equalizing or increasing the external pressure below the chin would nullify the effect.

Would creating a vacuum around the throat have the same effect as CPAP therapy?

Apnea is significantly affected by gravity, which causes both weight and 'normal' air pressure but is also directional.

What role does CPAP play in those effects?

Should we increase the pressure settings to compensate for the weight of heavy blankets in winter?

Could those extra blankets contribute to Apnea and the high death rates at that time of year?

Is there a link between Apnea and cot deaths?

Too many questions?

Somewhere in the dim past, I recall Julius Sumner Miller regularly asking ...

"WHY is it so?"

Of course, he often spoke of "a glas' an' a haf" which might also contribute to Apnea.