CPAP Blog

I read an article in the Times Online today about “The £400 mask that promises to silence snorers - on the NHS”. The journalist, David Rose, did an OK job in reporting that the government will recommend CPAP to those with moderate or severe symptoms starting next year, but I got the impression he didn’t quite understand the topic at all.

Article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2351411.ece

Let’s start with the title. A CPAP mask on its own does absolutely nothing. It seems like David Rose hasn’t grasped the fact that there’s an air pump of sorts at the end of it. A mask certainly doesn’t cost £400. More like £100 with another £300 or so for the machine.

He also seems to think CPAP is a cure for snoring, but fails to understand - or at least to put in proper perspective - it’s a therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) which is something else entirely. There are plenty of people who snore without any consequences other than annoying their bed partners, or neighbours. There are no OSA patients who don’t feel the consequences of their issues.

The following sentence again illustrates he has not done his homework properly, as he seems to think there is no pump involved. “The continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) devices, worn as masks covering the nose or face, […]”.

Then comes the only exciting bit of the article:

[…] provisional details issued by the watchdog to medical experts last month indicate that the masks could be recommended for patients with moderate or severe symptoms from next year.

I’m not sure how severe the symptoms had to be for the NHS to recommend CPAP prior to this publication by the NICE, but if they now decided to increase the accessibility to CPAP therapy by lowering the symptoms threshold, that can only be a good thing for those who don’t necessarily choke every night but do experience apnoea events.

Mr Rose also fails to mention CPAP equipment can be bought privately. He reckons “[…] the treatment is currently available only through selected NHS trusts and sleep clinics, as some local primary care trusts refuse to fund it.” Of course it’s more sensational to find another way to slam the NHS but if he cares about informing his readers, he could have mentioned the fact there is an alternative to the NHS when it comes to CPAP.

In the comments we find some Times readers recognize the short-comings of this article:

Misleading - people with OSA snore but that’s not why they need CPAP. Untreated, the underlying breathing difficulty can lead to more serious health problems and expense for the NHS. I seriously doubt that NICE has sanctioned the use of CPAP for snoring in general.

One commenter summarizes his or her CPAP experience as follows:

I cannot praise CPAP therapy enough. It has given me a complete new life. I used to be exhausted even after 7 hours’ “sleep” and after 11 a.m. was useless, with my body screaming silently for sleep. Now I am fit until 22h and wake up ready to take on anything.

It’s a shame this journalist didn’t grasp the problem at hand in its entirety. OSA and CPAP can certainly do with mainstream media coverage to help awareness of both the problem as well as the solution. But this article leaves room for improvement. But then again, it does come from the paper whose journalists “have no qualms at all about the hounding, marginalisation, stigmatisation and social exclusion of public snorers“.

If you have questions about your past or upcoming sleep lab visit, or you wonder what you can do from a nutritional point of view to alleviate OSA symptoms, this is your chance to ask the experts.

I have an interview lined up with a degree qualified nutritional therapist who knows a thing or two about sleep apnoea. I will be asking her about how dietary choices can affect OSA patients’ lives.

Next will be a one on one with an experienced Sleep Lab Technician. If you were wondering about the overnight procedures, what a Polysomnogram exactly is etc. you will soon be able to read up on the details, here on the CPAP Blog.

Besides just me asking my questions, you can get involved too! 

Leave your questions in a comment to this blog post below or post them in the forums. The best ones will be presented to the experts so this is your chance to get your questions answered by those in the know.

Some questions that may be on your mind…

“I’m a coffee addict; how does this affect my sleep apnea?”

“I often snack or drink alcohol before bed time. How does this affect sleep?”

“Should I prepare for my overnight lab test in any way? Perhaps cut sleep the night before?”

“What is the funniest sleep test incident you remember?”

What is on your mind?

There’s some interesting discussions on the various CPAP forums going on today related to a CNN news reporter who said that people dying from OSA is “Complete BullS***”.

The transcript of the show can be read here, the relevant part is about a fifth down:

NANCY GRACE: They said that Johnny Grunge — Mike Durham — he wrestled under the name Johnny Grunge, very, very well-known — died of sleep apnea. Please. Stop. That`s basically snoring, and you know, not breathing for a few seconds periodically through the night. You don`t die of sleep apnea. That is complete BS.

Apparently this wrestler had been on heavy medications which may have cause “respiratory depression”.

The Executive Director of the American Sleep Apnea Association posted “Shame on Nancy Grace” on the Apnea Support Forums as well as on his blog. He clearly believes you can die directly and indirectly from sleep apnea and he is well qualified to make such a statement.

Not only is the health of the sufferer compromised with increased risk of cardiovascular disease,hypertension and metabolic syndrome (to mention only a few), but so is the health of bed partner and other members of the family.

In this CPAPTalk thread, members debate the semantics. Do you die from OSA or do you die from lack of oxygen to the brain? Do you die from a gunshot wound or from the blood lost from a shot wound? Do you die from drowning or from lack of oxygen?

However you want to call it, and whatever the cause was of this wrestler’s death, you can die from obstructive sleep apnea, just like you can die from smoking. If smoking is the cause and lung cancer and subsequent death the effect, so is an airway blockage the cause of blood oxygen shortage and brain damage or death the subsequent end result.

For a news reporter to bluntly state, as fact, that it’s complete bull’s excrements when it’s suggested someone might have died from OSA is very shortsighted and bordering on irresponsible.

Maybe the medications aggravated the airway collapse by relaxing of the muscles. Who knows? Maybe this man could have lived had he been diagnosed and treated. Then again, he could have died from many other things too.