Long-Term Effects

[Hawthorne]

I have been on cpap for about 10 years now. My lungs are great. I had to have a yearly chest xray for a drug (for RA) for which I was in a clinical trial and I was told I have the lungs of a teenager. I'm 72!

I breathe much better during the day - deeper and fuller.

I attribute this a lot of this to cpap therapy - along with keeping my airway open while sleeping so that I don't have those consequences.

I do cardio and strength training as well so the 2 together make a big difference for me.

[LSAT]

I have been on cpap for about 10 years now. My lungs are great. I had to have a yearly chest xray for a drug (for RA) for which I was in a clinical trial and I was told I have the lungs of a teenager. I'm 72!

I breathe much better during the day - deeper and fuller.

I attribute this a lot of this to cpap therapy - along with keeping my airway open while sleeping so that I don't have those consequences.

I do cardio and strength training as well so the 2 together make a big difference for me.

I am also 72 and last year I had a pulmonary function test and I was told that my lung capacity was 135% of average. I don't know if CPAP had anything to do with it or not. I asked the pulmonologist and he was skeptical.

[Gazhacks]

It would be nice to have some lung trials on newbies just starting out but again there are just too many variables, like polution. I quit smoking a year ago as it was effecting my treatment also it left a nasty smell in my machine. There must be an increase in lung pressure as we are breathing under more pressure than without a machine. It seems that most peeps have other probs to go with their treatment on cpap so its hard to tell but it seems that the benefits outway the negatives if there are any. Would be nice to here from someone who has hit the 20 year barrier but I dont think theyve been out that long, I guess time will tell

[chunkyfrog]

The only person I know whose been on CPAP for 20 years is a bit older than I, but he seems to be pretty upbeat and active.
I think he is over 70, but still practices law--and we ran into him at the hardware store this weekend.--cart load of DIY stuff!

[Sleepy Taz]

It would be nice to have some lung trials on newbies just starting out but again there are just too many variables, like polution. I quit smoking a year ago as it was effecting my treatment also it left a nasty smell in my machine. There must be an increase in lung pressure as we are breathing under more pressure than without a machine. It seems that most peeps have other probs to go with their treatment on cpap so its hard to tell but it seems that the benefits outway the negatives if there are any. Would be nice to here from someone who has hit the 20 year barrier but I dont think theyve been out that long, I guess time will tell

Well I am 55 years old and have been using a Cpap since I was 32, and can honestly tell you that I have no lung problems other than recovering from a 37 year smoking habit. (I quit 5 years ago.) As many have stated Cpap helps you recover from colds quicker and I believe help to expand lung capacity the more you use it. Even if science doesn't find another way to treat sleep apnea I am sure that the technology on the Cpaps will improve. I like to imagine something like a blue tooth system that would not require a hose and features such as an automatic humidifier that would adjust to all conditions. Sounds like a pipedream but 20 years ago I would have paid hundreds for EPR or even any form of humidity. You would not believe the advances and they were mostly for comfort like EPR, quieter motors, humidifiers, Pillow masks, and better designs on nasal masks.

[Lizistired]

As to Lizistired's questions, both my husband and I have noticed that our baseline heart rates are lower, and it's harder to get the heart rate up to max and my recovery is faster. These are positive effects. Unlike MaxDarkside, I haven't noted any increased lung capacity with swimming or playing the saxophone, but it's only been 5 months.

The long-term side effect is worry about is the drying of the eyes (inducing corneal dystrophy), increasing the eye pressure (glaucoma) or other unknown effects. But now feeling great, I'll just use the nightly OTC eye ointment and have my eye pressures checked annually. Any one else doing preventative CPAP side effect maintenance?

Thanks, You gave me new stuff to google. I think this applies and all should read.
http://www.iovs.org/content/49/3/934.full
I notice double vision now but usually when I have fallen asleep without the xpap. My vision has gotten worse and unpredictable over the last year. At least now I have some questions to ask the eye doc. Maybe it's more than age.
As I age my eyes and teeth are becoming more and more important to me!

[MaxDarkside]

Thanks Liz on the IOP paper. I am a glaucoma suspect (high pressure, but thick corneas, but also very uneven IOP) before CPAP treatment and I have my eye Dr. on my list of appointments to be made. I have not noticed any glaucoma vision symptoms other than during the "blinky lights" vision test where I could see a cloud in the lower right of my left eye, but it's a condition that sneaks up on ya.

[idamtnboy]

Has there been or is there going to be any studies for long term use of Cpap?

As many years as CPAP has been being used, if there were significant downsides on a wide spread basis, I imagine some medical researcher would have picked up on it, especially those in the academic world where the mantra, "Publish or Perish," rules. Maybe in a few years Watson can find some issues that correlate to CPAP use.

But the relation of OSA and CPAP to other conditions is not being totally ignored. I don't have the links but there is a white paper from Resmed, I believe it is, about the apparent correlation between OSA and diabetes, and the impact of CPAP treatment.

[chunkyfrog]

My BHG spiked the morning after I was deprived of my machine by a power outage.

[Matty332]

So, has anyone increased their cardio activity with the intent to improve lung function and possibly reduce the need for cpap or it's pressure?

Cpap has to do with the throat becoming obstructed by collapsing or the tongue not staying put depending on ones architecture. No amount of aerobics is going to make a difference.

Hey Black Spinner, I am not an expert but my opinion differs from yours on the benefits of cardio for lung health. Sure cardio might not DIRECTLY do anything for OSA but it may in-directly cure it for those of us whose OSA is caused by obesity. Do enough cardio (bucket loads over a long period) and an obese person will lose all their excess fat and fall within normal body fat range - this may cure their OSA completely.

Also it has been scientifically proven that cardiovascular activity increases the health and the strength of the lungs at any age.

[Alienart]

I too would like to see some alternatives to CPAP being developed, but not because I fear long term effects. I just find it cramps my lifestyle a sometimes. For instance, I'd like to spend the night at a friend's house once a month without lugging the machine to work on those days. That's still a minor inconvenience compared to not waking up one day, as has been pointed out. Maybe there will be some miniaturization to improve the mobility of it in these days when many of us already carry telephones, pads or tablets.

[chunkyfrog]

I applaud the advances being done in orthodontics--working to improve breathing capacity, not just cosmetics.
This could be part of an alternate future.

[MDALE]

I like the discussion of the positive benefits of CPAP in this thread. Being a cyborg has it's advantages. Fuller breathing in the daytime and the pleasure of blissfully sleeping in late.

[BlackSpinner]

Hey Black Spinner, I am not an expert but my opinion differs from yours on the benefits of cardio for lung health. Sure cardio might not DIRECTLY do anything for OSA but it may in-directly cure it for those of us whose OSA is caused by obesity. Do enough cardio (bucket loads over a long period) and an obese person will lose all their excess fat and fall within normal body fat range - this may cure their OSA completely.

Also it has been scientifically proven that cardiovascular activity increases the health and the strength of the lungs at any age.

Yes but it will not directly affect OSA (unless you have apnea strictly due to obesity) . It could be because I was in good shape from cycling, walking and weight lifting that I could tolerate the lower O2 but it sure didn't stop the snoring or gasping.

[peterg]

So, has anyone increased their cardio activity with the intent to improve lung function and possibly reduce the need for cpap or it's pressure?

Cpap has to do with the throat becoming obstructed by collapsing or the tongue not staying put depending on ones architecture. No amount of aerobics is going to make a difference.

at risk of going off topic on this thread, but the mention of tongue as a cause of apnea is interesting, the sleep studies dont measure the tongue do they? and Cpap machines, clever as they are, dont distinguis the type of apnea and analyse the likely physical cuuse (like AHI 6.0, 5 tongue hypopneas and 1 tongue apnea) and if one could prove the tongue as the root of all evil in that sense, could one use a prosthetic that operated on the tongue? just wondering.