PAP stands for positive airway pressure. This is the therapy that we apply to patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We add the “C” which stands for “Continuous” and get the familiar CPAP.
Patients are told that along with relieving daytimes symptoms, CPAP has further health advantages particularly a reduction in what is called all-cause mortality which means a death by any cause. However, up until now the existing data regarding the effect of PAP therapy for the treatment of OSA on all-cause mortality especially cardiovascular mortality was inconsistent. These inconsistencies have now improved by a recent study that investigated over 5,000 patients and their medical records.
This new investigation and data clearly showed significant overall benefit of PAP therapy versus no-PAP therapy for OSA not only on all-cause mortality but specifically on cardiovascular mortality. What does this mean to you if you have OSA? It means that if you use your CPAP machine the way you are told to do so you can, not only, improve your daytime symptoms but improve your overall survival from heart attacks, strokes and heart rhythm disturbances.
From the physician’s standpoint, these findings mean that we can edplan as prescribed. We know that many of our OSA patients fall off the wagon and discontinue their therapy for a variety of reasons especially when they think it is not helping. Well, it really is, so rethink your options.
