data re: heart attacks and CPAP

[deerock]

hi. so i read the article in the link above in cpap news and ive seen other studies that show CPAP is not necessarily gonna keep you from dying from a heart attack. obviously in some ways thats totally true, its not a pacemaker.
however, is there strong data that cpap for sleep apnea has better overall health outcomes? i am assuming yes otherwise why would insurance pay for it.

[Julie]

Insurance co's are in business, but are not altruistic about it, they want their money and don't care about your health except as it coincides with ways to make money. They pay because it's to their benefit financially, not because they 'care'.

And certainly Cpap's better than no Cpap if you have apnea, for many reasons, but you're right that it won't prevent attacks by itself, though may delay them by quite a bit depending on how healthy or not you are otherwise.

[chunkyfrog]

Sometimes cpap helps, but is not enough to control A-fib.
A pacemaker may not be the answer, as ablation sometimes does the job better.
Learn what is best for your situation, and make sure your insurance
does not try to shove you into a less than ideal treatment.

[palerider]

crap "study" from link above torn to shreds in this thread:
viewtopic/t113345/Study-quotCPAP-machin ... squot.html

[mal59]

CPAP did not fix my AFIB, not sure if it fixes anything, but, I am not willing to take the risk based on my situation. I had a cardiac ablation, that corrected my AFIB and I am afraid to discontue CPAP just in case.

[D.H.]

Yes, the problem with this study was the non-compliance of the subjects. The researcher even alluded to that.

Also - it's not 100% clear - I think that many of the study subjects had very advanced heart disease, and perhaps CPAP is less helpful to such patients than to Apnea patients in general.

Lastly, even if the study is taken at face value, there are other benefits to CPAP.

[Guest]

CPAP did not fix my AFIB, not sure if it fixes anything,

cpap does not and will not reverse heart disease caused by anything including undiagnosed and untreated sleep apnea. said another way cpap will not reverse damage caused to heart tissue.

however I do believe that if you are diagnosed early and use your cpap faithfully every time you sleep you can extend the inevitable.

[LSAT]

IMO........ CPAP stops your O2 levels from dropping during sleep. That helps your heart and MAY prevent your heart condition from getting worse. It will not CURE any heart condition.

[Guest]

hi. so i read the article in the link above in cpap news

so which article was that? dont see which one

[Julie]

See PR's note 3rd from the top.

[Guest]

See PR's note 3rd from the top.

but thats not the link the op was referring to

[D.H.]

Regarding the reversal of heart damage.

I had an enlarged heart twenty years ago, but I have a normal size heart how!

[palerider]

See PR's note 3rd from the top.

but thats not the link the op was referring to

ultimately, yes, it is.

however, we have a perfect example of the downside of making a vague post referring to something that's going to be changing, like anything in the 'cpap news' links.