Anyone know anything about CPAP Helmets?

[chunkyfrog]

I can more easily imagine that thing used in a white room.

[B3Bear]

I knew I'd seen this before somewhere!

[Emmy1]

LOL! Well, you'd need a built in pillow for starters, unless you plan to sleep sitting up in a chair. It would certainly deal with the issue of ear popping, but imagine trying to scratch an itch anywhere on your head. No go. I think I'll pass.

[roster]

Sorry to doubt you, but where exactly are you getting your information? I mean it is called a CPAP Helmet, so I can only assume that it delivers continuous positive airway pressure, which you seem to be implying it doesn't?

Why don't you ask your doctor for a prescription?

[NotMuffy]

I mean it is called a CPAP Helmet, so I can only assume that it delivers continuous positive airway pressure, which you seem to be implying it doesn't?

I think the point concerns location and balance of forces.

If you subscribe to the "tracheal traction" and changes in FRC affecting obstruction (read split_city's posts) then it might work.

A Structural Mechanism from a Distance: Lung Volume Hypothesis

Obesity is associated with significant reduction of lung volume such as functional residual capacity (FRC) and expiratory residual volume due to diminished chest wall compliance, and total lung capacity and vital capacity are only impaired by extreme obesity.34 Whereas FRC reduction accounts for development of severe hypoxemia during obstructive events in obese OSA patients, lung volume decrease, per se, is indicated to contribute to pharyngeal airway obstruction. Hoffstein et al.35 hypothesized significant lung volume dependence of pharyngeal airway patency as an important factor in the pathophysiology of OSA based on the finding that obese OSA patients demonstrated significantly greater reduction of the smaller pharyngeal cross-sectional area in response to slow exhalation from total lung capacity to residual volume than obese non-OSA persons during wakefulness (54 ± 6 vs. 30 ± 5%).

[NotMuffy]

Then again, maybe not:

A Structural Mechanism from a Distance: Lung Volume and OSA

Series et al.36 first reported an obese OSA patient who presented decreased frequency of obstructive events and improved sleep architecture in response to a 0.5-l increase of FRC by applying a constant negative extrathoracic pressure during sleep. Interestingly, the same investigators failed to support the lung volume hypothesis in nine mildly obese OSA patients (124% of ideal body weight) despite using the same protocol for changing FRC during sleep.37 Heinzer et al.,38 however, recently demonstrated that 0.77- and 1.3-l increases of FRC during sleep significantly decreased AHI from 62.3 events/h to 37.2 and 31.2 events/h, respectively, improving sleep quality in 12 more obese OSA patients than those studied by Series et al. (mean BMI = 34.9 kg/m2). Although the discrepant results from two clinical investigations including only 22 OSA patients do not provide conclusive evidence for the lung volume hypothesis, the difference in the severity of obesity between the studies is worthy of note, while the discrepancy is explainable by the difference in study protocols and populations. It is possible that the influence of lung volume is greater in more obese OSA patients, because Heinzer et al.38 found a trend toward a correlation between the extent of AHI reduction during lung inflation and the BMI (correlation coefficient = 0.53, P = 0.077, n = 12) in their study population.

[LSAT]

I didn't realize that Buzz Lightyear had sleep apnia.............
http://www.ultimate-kid-birthday-partie ... color4.gif

[mayondair]

Time to call NASA, Mabe they have a good deal on used astronaut suits. then again you probably won't qualify for a space mission with sleep apnea

[roster]

Hey, what happened to the nice avatar?

Please get back to gluten-free.

[B3Bear]

Why don't you ask your doctor for a prescription?

What would that prove exactly?

[giovannachid@libero.it]

Hi,
My name is Giovanna, I am intensive care physician in italy and in my unit we treat extensively patients with helmet to deliver CPAP.
The main problem is that you need a high fresh gas flow to avoid CO2 rebreathing in the helmet. Now the use of the helmet is reserved to intrahospital setting in intensive care or emergency department. There are no home ventilation able to deliver a so high fresh gas flow in the circuit. You risk hypercapnic coma if you attach the helmet to your home ventilator!
If you would contact me for further explanations : Giovanna Chidini, MD, Milan Italy
(I cannot attach my mail, you will find it in pubmed)

[B3Bear]

Thanks so much for that info and clarifying that. I myself have been "broken" by my Mirage Quattro mask. It really came down to make it super tight to get a good seal. It takes 3 hours for the marks to go away but my AHI is 2.5.

[LSAT]

Thanks so much for that info and clarifying that. I myself have been "broken" by my Mirage Quattro mask. It really came down to make it super tight to get a good seal. It takes 3 hours for the marks to go away but my AHI is 2.5.

The Quattro works best when it is NOT tight. The mask must 'float' on your face.
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/taming ... e-quattro/

[B3Bear]

The Quattro works best when it is NOT tight. The mask must 'float' on your face.
http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/taming ... e-quattro/

Ha! Not when you've got a beard.

[GumbyCT]

Maybe it's me but IF that helmet had any kind of pressure in it how could you exhale?

Better for hospital use as the doc described. I imagine it is used to infuse O2 at a lower pressure.

Do NOT try this at home folks