therapetic guide to CPAP machines

[zoolander]

Does anyone know of a reference manual that outlines how to make therapeutic changes to CPAP machibes

Surely there has be something. For example you may find books such as "Medical Biochemistry-Fundamentals"

[Wulfman]

Does anyone know of a reference manual that outlines how to make therapeutic changes to CPAP machibes

Surely there has be something. For example you may find books such as "Medical Biochemistry-Fundamentals"

Each machine comes with a "Setup Manual" (until the DMEs remove it.....unless you get the machine from CPAP.COM).

The DMEs adjust the machines to what the doctors order. (prescribe)

As far as the (sleep) doctors......? They get data from the technicians during the sleep study. Many of the sleep doctors have to have somebody else interpret it for them. (My sleep study was interpreted by somebody else in a different state)

Far too many of these (sleep) doctors are "clueless" about how these machines really work and prescribing proper therapy......nor are they aware of the "bells & whistles" that are in some of them..

If there ARE those manuals.......the doctors aren't reading them.
If you've got a data-capable machine and the software to monitor your therapy, you've got more information than 90+% of all the other CPAP users out there.


Den

[Slinky]

Right on, Den!!! My experience, as with most of the members' here, point to the exact same conclusions.

[DreamStalker]

Den, you party animal you

Try this link zoo dude (or dudette?) -

http://www.cpap-supply.com/Articles.asp?ID=130

... a lot easier read than "Medical Biochemistry-Fundamentals".

Damm Misguided Evil (DME's)!

EDIT: OK. I just noticed that in another post you satated you have a PhD in Biomed. So I guess your question really is how do you optimize your PAP treatment?

Again, no PhD needed really.

First you have to make certain that your mask seal is maintained within reason ... your nightly charts will generally show small deviation in the leak rate (a straight line is ideal but not easy, a zipper like pattern is good, large peaks and valleys are bad).

Then you collect sufficient data to represent the nightly variations of other variables such as medications, diet, sleep positions, etc. and plot pressure vs. AHI. In other words you need to do a sensitivity analysis of pressure on your AHI. To further refine this you can also do the sensitivity analysis of pressure on AI and HI and FL. You are basically looking to minimize AHI and AI with the optimal pressure. If you have plain OSA as opposed to central (CSA) or complex apnea, your optimization will be much easier as you will basically be looking for a minimum optimal pressure instead of a mminimum and maximum optimal pressures.

So all you need is data capable machine, data collection and analysis (software and card reader), and some common sense ... as Jim would say, even a caveman can do it

Good luck!