Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition in which your breathing stops for just a very brief moment during routine sleep as a result of a narrowing or blocking of the airway. People may sometimes be experiencing many hundreds of these apnea episodes, or interruptions in breathing, through a single given night. Most people identified as having this medical condition, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), have a major problem with snoring. Snoring becomes bothersome either for themselves or a partner, spouse or other family member with whom they are sleeping.
There are many different popular treatment options for obstructive sleep apnea sufferers to get the condition under control, including snoring and apnea episodes. Oral appliances, or OAs, open the upper airway usually by pulling up as the OSA patient inhales and exhales. This will make the airways less narrow, which reduces snoring and, purportedly, apnea episodes as well. Another major treatment for OSA patients is with the usage of continuous positive airway pressure machines. CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machines actually send forced air through the airways, keeping them open to prevent apnea and reducing snoring.
Obviously, there is much debate about the various treatments for obstructive sleep apnea and which yields the best results. In some cases, the individual may go through less apnea episodes (which is a good thing), but then experience more snoring or additional side effects. Investigation by scientists and professionals in the medical community has been conducted, especially in the last decade, to compare the effectiveness of CPAP versus other treatments like oral appliances.
CPAP Machines At Work
Before diving into the myriad of research projects scientists have carried out with obstructive sleep apnea patients and CPAP technology, you must first know how CPAP works to get sleep apnea along with other symptoms, like snoring, under control. Most of the time in sleep apnea patients, the physiological cause of snoring and apnea episodes is due to the relaxation of muscles that takes place. This relaxation causes tissues at the back of the throat and the uvula to collapse, which ultimately restricts the passage of air. In turn, this has an effect on your breathing during the night.
Whenever a CPAP machine is recommended for a sleep apnea patient, they're given a large machine in addition to a CPAP mask. What happens during the night time is that the individual wears the mask, that is connected to the machine. The CPAP machine forces air -- via the CPAP mask -- using positive pressure that gets sent to the airway to prevent its obstruction and improve breathing. In addition to improving breathing, the CPAP mask and machine also minimizes snoring.
Research on CPAP Effectiveness
The research conducted on CPAP machines have largely centered on their effectiveness for reducing snoring, apnea episodes and other symptoms associated with obstructive sleep apnea. When you consider the entire body of research, you might conclude the CPAP is probably the most effective treatment available on the market for OSA patients. However, you will find downsides as well.
Researchers at the university in Tokyo published a study in a 2004 issue of Internal Medicine in which they investigated the patient's quality of life, depressive symptoms and excessive daytime sleepiness before and after receiving treatment using a CPAP machine. Prior to treatment with CPAP, researchers found that patients' quality of life was significantly associated with the ratings on their self-depression scales. Following treatment, however, self-depression scales reduced significantly as also did the excessive sleepiness scale scores. The experts determined that treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea with CPAP improves patients' quality of life by alleviating depression.
Receiving treatment using a CPAP machine at home also has great benefits for your relationship with a spouse or bed partner. Researchers at a university in Chicago, Illinois, published a 2007 study in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in which they examined the sleep of couples, in both the laboratory and also at home. The researchers measured both the husband's and wives' quality of life (QOL) utilizing a special self-report scale, and they also required the participants to take a sleepiness scale.
While the husband's adjustment to being treated with CPAP was positive and actually raised his QOL scores, the same was not true for the wives. Whether or not this was the noise from the machine or simply being conditioned to arousal, the wives' QOL scores were lower than the husband's after receiving treatment with CPAP. In other words, the husband adjusted better to being treated with CPAP than the wives' did. However, analysts conclude that a longer follow-up period is required in further research to determine if similar effects are seen.