By, Dr. Lydia Sosenko

Airport security scrutiny, luggage restrictions, and just plain old inconvenience are just some of the reasons that people have been known to leave behind their CPAP or Continuous Positive Air Pressure Devices during travel.

CPAP is the most currently prescribed treatment to date for obstructive sleep apnea or OSA, a life threatening condition in which people stop breathing repeatedly as much as 100 or more times per hour!  OSA is still considered one of the most undiagnosed medical conditions.  Although very effective, CPAP therapy is not tolerated by many people, and often left behind during travel for those who do tolerate it.  Some studies report that as many as 40-60 % of patients are not complying with this type of therapy! 

During travel, some of the most common complaints involve troubles with transportability of such devices. Some patients have complained of their CPAP devices not properly functioning after airport security scrutiny.  Others say it just takes too much room to pack adding to problems with stricter luggage restrictions.

Unfortunately, many OSA patients do not know of other options that they may have to treat obstructive sleep apnea.  OAT or oral appliance therapy has been a proven CPAP alternative, medically recognized and recommended treatment for apnea patients for over 2 decades!  With no hoses, nothing to plug in, and nothing to strap on, OAT involves the fitting of a custom mouth device that can fit into the palm of your hand, and can be stored in a small plastic container. These custom mouth devices work by keeping the jaw and tongue slightly forward preventing collapsing of the airway and allowing free and unblocked breathing during sleep. When comparing success rates of CPAP therapy and Oral Appliance Therapy, CPAP has generally higher success rates.  However, compliance is far higher with OAT making it a great option especially for those with mild to moderate apnea or those who quite simply refuse to pack-up their CPAP along on those trips!

For more information on oral appliance therapy and to see if it can rescue your travel itinerary from CPAP problems, visit www.FreeMeFromCPAP.com.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 20, 2008) — People with sleep apnea — a breathing disorder that disrupts sleep — are at double the risk of being in a car crash, a new study by Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and University of British Columbia respirologist finds.

Published online in the journal Thorax, the study also found that patients with sleep apnea are 3 to 5 times more likely to be in a serious car crash involving personal injury.

Using data from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, researchers studied nearly 1,600 people including patients with and without sleep apnea.

“We were startled by the number of crashes, but even more surprised about the severity of the crashes and how many involved personal injury,” said study author Dr. Najib Ayas of the Vancouver Coastal Health Sleep Disorders Program and Associate Professor of Medicine at UBC. “Even those patients with fairly mild sleep apnea had an increased risk of serious crashes.”

Previous studies have identified a link between sleep apnea and increased risk for car crashes, but this is the largest study of its kind and the first study to examine the severity of such crashes.

Sleep apnea causes excessive daytime sleepiness. In the study, the patients’ self-reported sleepiness was not linked to an increased risk of crashes. “The study suggests that the patients may not be aware of the potential driving hazards caused by sleep apnea,” said Dr. John Fleetham, UBC Professor of Medicine and a co-author of the study. “Given the markedly increased risk of crashes in patients with sleep apnea, we feel it is important for people with suspected sleep apnea to be assessed for this common disorder for which there are several effective treatments.”

Among the general population, men have more car crashes than women. However, men and women with sleep apnea in this study had similar crash rates.

Adapted from materials provided by University of British Columbia.

Thank you for stopping by our blog site! We look forward to sharing the latest research and the latest news on sleep health, snoring and apnea. We realize how important sleep is to the overall well-being of our lives and love to share relevant information on such topics. Would you believe oral appliance therapy for snoring and as a CPAP alternative has been in existence for over 20 years.   Only recently has it been gaining public awareness and featured in the news. Unfortunately, research suggest that at least 90% of patients with sleep disorders are going undiagnosed, obstructive sleep apnea being one of the more common of sleep disorders. It is our personal goal, at Dental Sleep Medicine of Illinois, to continue increasing the publics and medical community’s awareness of the importance of successfully treating snoring and apnea, as well as the role of oral appliance therapy.

Dr. Lydia Sosenko