If you have sleep apnea, are you using a CPAP machine? It’s important to use your CPAP machine as directed so that you experience continuous positive airway pressure while you sleep.
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Even though they’ve been diagnosed with sleep apnea and have had a CPAP machine prescribed, up to 80% of patients that participated in a recent survey indicated that they’re not using it very often. As a result, they are not following the prescribed usage that is sufficient to maintain their health and safety while asleep.

Recent studies have revealed that roughly half of the patients with CPAP machine prescriptions are only using them for 1 to 3 weeks. For patients that are 60 years of age and older, this may be because they require heated humidification. Individuals over 60 are 5 times more likely to need heated humidification to increase their comfort level while sleeping, so it’s important to ensure that they have this as well.

In order to obtain the best possible results and to continue receiving insurance coverage, there are several recommendations. First of all, patients should use their CPAP machine a minimum of 70% of the time throughout the month. This amounts to a minimum of 4 hours per night.

While some patients prefer nasal pillows, others prefer nasal masks. There are CPAP masks for side sleepers as well as for mouth breathers. When these patients are using the right style of pillow or mask, it may greatly increase their level of usage.

Sleep apnea is more common for men than women. It’s been found that sleep apnea is actually twice as prevalent in men. Furthermore, there are an estimated 18 million people in the United States that are dealing with the challenges posed by sleep apnea.

Data also shows that approximately 2% to 4% of people in the United States remain undiagnosed. When untreated, sleep apnea sufferers are 4 times more likely to experience a stroke and 3 times more likely to experience heart disease.

If you’re not sure whether or not you have sleep apnea, you can take a home sleep test. If you startle awake throughout the night or wake up in the morning exhausted, these may be potential signs that you have sleep apnea. When someone suffers with obstructive sleep apnea, they may experience 60 or more apneas an hour. This basically means that they experience a temporary cessation of breathing 60 or more times an hour.

Once you take a home sleep test and meet with your physician, they will be able to provide you with more information. If it’s determined that you have sleep apnea, then using a CPAP machine will improve the quality of your sleep and have a potentially positive effect on your overall health. Remember that you will have the best and most consistent results with using a CPAP machine as directed.