CPAP Blog

New research, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, shows that CPAP therapy lowers cortisol in apneic patients. Cortisol, also known as the stress hormone, is known to increase blood pressure, reduce immune system activity and lower bone formation, amongst many other effects.

Doctor Vgontzas of Penn State University College of Medicine and his research partners concluded:

Nonpsychologically distressed, normally sleeping, obese men had low cortisol secretion. The cortisol secretion was slightly activated by SA and returned to low by CPAP use. The low cortisol secretion in obesity through its inferred hyposecretion of hypothalamic CRH might predispose the obese to sleep apnea.

I have to say most of this type of lingo (”hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity” anyone?) is well over my head but in the forums, we had been wondering about the more intricate details of sleep apnea and the effects of it and CPAP on the various processes in the body. Research like this piece it all together slowly.

See in the forums:

• Does CPAP change blood/oxygen relationship
• Red blood cell count
• The wake up cell

CPAP is making sleep apnoea sufferers around the world sleep again. Within a 24 hours window, these three stories reached my inbox. In each, a sleep apnoea patient describes their CPAP fortune. If you suffer from sleep apnoea, read these success stories. It could be you getting your life back too!

In TampaBays10: Woman finally enjoys a good night of sleep

So now she and Victor can enjoy the day, after both get a great night’s sleep.

“Oh, I feel great!” says Maria. “Thank the Lord, yes.”

In the Sand Mountain Reporter: Pruett won’t run again

 After the second stroke, doctors believe they were brought on by a sleep disorder called sleep apnea.

“I now sleep with a CPAP machine and feel great.”

On Lower Hudson Online: A diagnosis that can keep our roads safer

 ”Once the patient is treated, they feel like they have a new life,” Bergstein said. “It transforms their sex life, their family life, their work life.”

While Mosa conceded going to bed hooked up to a machine with a mask on isn’t sexy and it takes some getting used to, she said she won’t travel anywhere without her CPAP machine.

“If I don’t have the CPAP, I can’t sleep,” she said. “It’s amazing, what a difference it’s made. I’m clearheaded, and I’m more ambitious to do things. At this point, it’s part of my life.”

If you find more links to similar stories, please post them in the comments.