What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)?

Obstructive sleep apnea is a medical condition and sleeping disorder where you repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night, anywhere from 5 times per hour up to 30+ times per hour. Each time you stop breathing you wake up to begin breathing again, though in the morning you will not remember this.

Your throat becomes blocked because your breathing muscles in the back of your throat relax, causing the back of your throat to collapse fully or partially, blocking your airways. Each blockage/arousal cycle is called an apnea or apnea event.

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)?

Obstructive sleep apnea is a medical condition and sleeping disorder where you repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night, anywhere from 5 to 30+ times per hour. Each time you stop breathing you rouse yourself to begin breathing again, though in the morning you will not remember rousing.

Your throat becomes blocked because your breathing muscles in the back of your throat relax, causing the back of your throat to collapse fully or partially, blocking your airways. Each blockage/arousal cycle is called an apnea or apnea event.Obstructive Sleep Apnea Risks

Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a serious medical condition with ride ranging emotional, physical, and cognitive side effects and risks. OSA can increase the risk of:

• Shorter life expectancy
• Lower quality of life
• Lower performance in many areas of life
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Stroke
• Heart disease

Fortunately, OSA treatment options can significantly or completely reduce these risks.

What is a CPAP Machine?

A CPAP device/machine stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. A CPAP machine is a small, rectangular box with a motorized fan inside and an adjacent humidifier. It is the primary tool used in CPAP therapy and is considered the gold standard for treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Connected to the CPAP device is a flexible tube that leads to a breathing mask. The hose is lightweight and kept warm in order to reduce condensation. Among other things, too much condensation can lead to sanitation problems like, mold growth.

Finally, the primary component in CPAP machines is a small fan. The small fan inside delivers gentle, positive pressure through a connected hose to the breathing mask. This results in a reduction of lapses of breathing at night because the positive air pressure keeps your airway open. The pressure can be a little strange at first, but it’s rare that people report any long-term problems associated with it.

Recent advances in CPAP technology have dramatically improved the performance, usability, and comfort of CPAP machines, and they are far and above the most popular treatment to OSA.

Be Comfortable With CPAP

CPAP is often scary for people who are concerned they have obstructive sleep apnea (or have already been diagnosed with it). After all, it doesn’t exactly look comfortable. People who already use it sometimes struggle with ensuring that their CPAP is effective.

If you are concerned about how to use your CPAP and maintain it, then continue reading the article where we will discuss: What a CPAP is

• What CPAP therapy is used for
• How to keep your CPAP effective
• How to maintain your CPAP
• Additional CPAP Tips

What is a CPAP Machine?

CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. This machine is considered the gold standard treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and ensures that you are breathing continuously throughout the night while you sleep.

A CPAP machine is a small box with a motorized fan inside that is connected to a tube that leads to a breathing mask, that you wear. The fan gently pressurizes the mask and delivers air to your nose and/or mouth (depending on which type of mask you get) as needed. This results in no more lapses of breathing at night.

CPAP machines also have a humidification chamber built in so that you don’t get a dry, scratchy throat/mouth or nasal passage. While a humidification chamber is optional, it’s generally recommended as a lack of humidification can irritate the nasal passage and throat.

What is a Travel CPAP Device?

CPAP therapy is the gold standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. Without it, millions of people around the world suffer from the negative health effects of this sleeping disorder. This is easy when one is at home, but while traveling, CPAPs can be cumbersome and difficult to pack. However, forgoing it for a few days also increases one's risk of a complication related to CPAP therapy. One option, however, is a travel CPAP.

Travel CPAPs are TSA-friendly, can be FAA approved for in-flight use, are easy to disassemble and reassemble, and are portable so they can fit in a carry on bag. One of the reasons they are more travel-friendly is that they tend to use smaller tubing, have fewer parts, and are battery powered so they don't require power cables.

Travel CPAP machines are made specifically for traveling. They are a bit more expensive than regular CPAP machines and are not made to “replace” your regular CPAP.

We are so excited to let you know about the latest technology for people with sleep apnea. Ultra-portable, compact, seamlessly integrated and superior quality are just a few of the adjectives used to describe the NEW DreamStation Go by Philips. Anchorage Sleep Center is proud to introduce you to a new portable CPAP machine which delivers on all of the features sleep apnea patients desire in a unit. The just released Philips DreamStation Go hits the sweet spot – size and portability with all the functionality necessary for uncompromised results. Here are some reasons the DreamStation Go is expected to be a big hit with individuals in therapy for sleep apnea.

Is it time to upgrade your CPAP?

Is your CPAP machine noisy?  Is it keeping you and/or your partner awake at night?  If your CPAP is three years old or older, there’s a good chance that it is. There are new CPAP machines that are quieter, lighter and auto-titrating. Meaning they automatically adjust to the optimal pressure settings. 

Are you or a loved one a CPAP user? They can change your life, but up to 50% of people stop using them within one year. Why? Because most find the maintenance of their equipment daunting. At first it might seem overwhelming but understand with time it will become as routine as brushing your teeth. 

It’s not surprising that the week of Thanksgiving was chosen as GERD awareness week, especially with our tendency to indulge in a little too much of everything!  GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) is a common disease that affects millions of Americans.