CPAPtalk.com

roster wrote:jeff - you da man!

Thanks, ro[o]ster. But actually, Mike is da man. It was very important to him that this info get posted here at cpaptalk around the same time that he was posting it to sleepguide.

I think he is really hoping for spirited discussion here among cpaptalk members about the contents of the talk.

Mike and his associates put an incredible amount of time and effort into arranging those A.W.A.K.E. meetings, and they seem to be all about info getting to PAP users and users giving feedback.

jeff

The slides are available from manhattanawake.org.

Look under past meetings.

Mike has posted here a few times, but has been jumped on as only trying to strip members from cpaptalk to his forum. That has never been his intent. He really does care about getting info out to PAP users to help and encourage them to USE their PAP.

rested gal wrote: . . . I understand that Dr. Rapoport recognized that mask comfort issues play a part in CPAP compliance, and this talk was to be only about pressure issues . . .

Yeah. I think he "gets" the importance of the mask, and how helpful APAP and bilevel can be, for that matter, based on his comments made here:

. . . Q: I've tried using the CPAP for months now and it's incredibly uncomfortable. Are there any alternatives?

A: There are ways to make the CPAP more comfortable. First, make sure your mask fits correctly. There are many types available and each mask needs to be properly fitted to an individual's face. Secondly, it's important that you use learn to use the mask correctly. Patients often try to alleviate mask discomfort by tightening the device, which actually makes it worse. Similar machines, called bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) and auto-titrating positive airway pressure (APAP) devices, might make the air flow more tolerable. . . . -- http://www.health.com/health/condition- ... _2,00.html

Many of his answers to questions posed in that interview are particularly well-worded, in my opinion.

jeff

carbonman wrote: . . . My impression of the Drs. comments about cflex and auto
are that he just has not seen data to prove that it works.
But is not against it being there if it does help people
use their cpap.

I was totally fascinated w/the concept of
comfort is only needed when we are awake,
not when we are asleep.
So, if "sense-awake" is to work,
are new masks going to be developed to allow you
to breath comfortably at 0 to ??? pressure when you are awake?
How is that going to work?
Will they just be masks w/larger anti asphyxia valves? . . .

Good points carbonman. I think your take on it all helps to balance my initial take on his words in my earlier thread. I think the wording of some of his comments caught me off guard (after all, I am an autobilevel with Easy-Breathe user), but the more I think about his overall points, the more I think his take has real merit, even though he seems to be coming at the issues from a completely different angle than I'm used to. He was speaking in shorthand so that people like me, with no real background in medicine or science, could follow. So he had to cut a few corners somewhere, I guess. He made me think. And you really can't ask for more than that from a public lecturer.

Your thoughts on a different kind of mask for pressures lower than 4 cm is intriguing. Thanks for that. I hadn't thought of that at all.

And I guess the whole sense-awake thing may prove to have some value in some way one day--who knows? We need guys to feel free to keep thinking outside the box, no matter how silly the ideas sound at first to guys like me. After all, hooking up a guy to a backward vacuum cleaner must have sounded like a pretty silly idea at first too, right? Though, rested gal's point is a truly solid one--they had better do their research well before rushing to market so that it doesn't turn out that they are experimenting on US!

jeff

Thank you very very much for posting those links, jeff.
I would want my Dr. to be as knowledegable, curious, informed and honest. A wonderful overview of the state of the art and the role of research.

O.

ozij wrote:Thank you very very much for posting those links, jeff.
I would want my Dr. to be as knowledegable, curious, informed and honest. A wonderful overview of the state of the art and the role of research.

O.

I wish I could convince my primary care doc to watch those vids.

I have a feeling he could give that presentation 400 times and fill the hour with completely fresh information every time. I'm not sure if he was even completely warmed up yet by the time the presentation was over! I bet he could easily handle a two-week seminar with no notes without repeating himself even once. I hope the posting of the vids gets him invited to speak to larger audiences in person internationally. I can't imagine a medical seminar that would not be made better by his presence.

I don't know if he sees many patients individually these days. Educating doctors and manufacturers must be hard work in and of itself.

He seemed to me like the rare species--the true realist.

What impressed me most was the way he dignified the audience with his approach.

Speaking of which, I wish you had the time to post here more, yourself, ozij. There have been a number of threads that really could have used your presence, in my opinion.

jeff

jnk wrote:

ozij wrote:Thank you very very much for posting those links, jeff.
I would want my Dr. to be as knowledegable, curious, informed and honest. A wonderful overview of the state of the art and the role of research.

O.

I wish I could convince my primary care doc to watch those vids.

I have a feeling he could give that presentation 400 times and fill the hour with completely fresh information every time. I'm not sure if he was even completely warmed up yet by the time the presentation was over! I bet he could easily handle a two-week seminar with no notes without repeating himself even once. I hope the posting of the vids gets him invited to speak to larger audiences in person internationally. I can't imagine a medical seminar that would not be made better by his presence.

I don't know if he sees many patients individually these days. Educating doctors and manufacturers must be hard work in and of itself.

He seemed to me like the rare species--the true realist.

What impressed me most was the way he dignified the audience with his approach.

I couldn't agree more with that.

"When in doubt .... pressurize the snout." (Dr. Westbrook, slide 50)

That is a good rule for life.

Maybe my next bumper sticker.