What is a CPAP?

If you have breathing problems during sleep, you might have heard of the CPAP. There are a lot of good things that a CPAP can do and you will learn everything about in this article.

So what is a CPAP? CPAP stands for “Continuous Positive Airway Pressure” and it works by providing air with the right amount of pressure for patients that have breathing problems like sleep apnea.

Again, the CPAP machine is short for “continuous positive airway pressure”, how it works is pretty much self-explanatory.

A CPAP provides air to keep the patients breathing during sleep because sleep apnea is caused by an obstruction in the airway or inability to breathe.

It happens when the brain fails to send the right signals to your muscles that enable you to breathe. This is called “central sleep apnea”.

If your difficult breathing is caused by your anatomical features such as a narrow throat which can make breathing difficult, it is classified as “obstructive sleep apnea”.

Both can be improved by a CPAP machine so if you have any of those sleeping conditions, immediately consider the use of a CPAP machine.

The machine comes with a mask which can be different depending on the user. It can be a half or full-faced mask. It is attached to the machine using wires that is long enough to ensure the user can move.

However, this is the problem found by most of its users that cannot tolerate the mask is attached to the wire. For them, it makes sleeping even more difficult.

In this case, you may also learn about the other options you can use for treating conditions such as sleep apnea.

But when it works the way it should, it has a lot of benefits which will be mentioned in the lower sections.

Have you ever wondered how such a successful machine was made? CPAP is actually made out of passion by a great Dr! Read on to learn about the history of CPAP machines and how it was invented.

How CPAP was invented

CPAP or “Continuous Positive Airway Pressure” was invented solely for the purpose of bettering sleep apnea conditions. It was made by a man named Dr. Colin Sullivan, he began testing it back in 1980.

Way back 1950, studies about sleep and conditions related it has been one of the main focuses of the time and sleep apnea is one of those conditions that does not have a clear solution just yet.

It was only until today when another form of treatments aside from CPAP was invented which involves surgeries and bone reconstruction.

During its testing period, CPAP was not immediately accepted by many people since it requires users to use a mask attached to a machine, making movement limited during sleep.

However, Dr. Sullivan, who has been trying to develop the CPAP treatment for almost his entire life said that the patients should think of CPAP similar to reading glasses, it can be a nuisance, but you need them.

That is how people with sleep apnea began to continue testing the CPAP treatment with Dr. Sullivan and eventually, it became a successful treatment despite the “inconvenience of limited movement” during sleep.

Thanks to technology and medicine, other form of treatments are now possible which has continued to make countless lives better and save them from deadly conditions.

Why CPAP is successful

Aside from effectively curing sleep apnea, there are other benefits it can provide as it treats the sleeping condition. Check these advantages listed for you below!

Lessen daytime sleepiness
- Sleep apnea can make it difficult to fall asleep at night. If you use CPAP, you may prevent this.
Anti-snoring device
- Using a CPAP mask can control snoring tendencies. Sleep apnea patients are often loud and constant snorers but with CPAP, now you can sleep better.
No more morning headaches
- Sleep apnea also causes headaches. CPAP users report better mornings without headaches after using CPAP.
Avoid heart failures
- May lead to fatal conditions such as brain damages or even death, CPAP can prevent heart failures caused by sleep apnea.
Avoid heart attacks
- Sleep apnea can trigger heart attacks and can also be severely threatening however, this can be prevented by using the CPAP machine.
Stop irregular heartbeats
- Irregular heartbeats worsens the ability to breathe and it can trigger anxiety but CPAP can bring your heartbeat pattern back to normal.
Prevent stroke
- Getting hit by stroke can leave permanent damage that may lead to paralysis. Sleep apnea can also be the cause of stroke but the help of CPAP machine can lessen the risk of stroke.
Improved control for emotions
- Sleep apnea can cause irritability and mental or emotional problems because it affects our physical health and our brain but CPAP can prevent it.
Helps the body control your hormones
- Being sleep deprived can actually trigger diabetic tendencies! This is because your hormones will lose control due to lack of sleep which can be prevented or fixed by CPAP machines.
Avoid uncontrolled weight gain or loss
- Sleep apnea also messes with the body’s hormones, causing the patient to usually gain weight uncontrollably. For rare cases, patients lose weight too. CPAP machines can prevent this.
Avoiding high blood pressure
- Aside from your physical health, hypertension can also affect your mental health and relationship with people around you including your work. CPAP treatment can prevent this.
Better ability to focus and memorize
- Sleep apnea reduces your ability to focus and worsens ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), but using CPAP machine can improve your ability to focus!
Avoid driving accidents
- People with sleep apnea are prone to daytime sleepiness and can get sleepy while driving or lose focus which can lead to accidents, using a CPAP machine can prevent that.
Wake up with full energy
- With sleep apnea, your energy will be reduced since you are unable to sleep well. The CPAP machine can fix that for you.
Eliminates risk of seizure
- Sleep apnea patients are more prone to seizures during sleep compared to epilepsy patients without sleep apnea.
Reduce medical expenses
- Untreated sleep apnea can lead to worsened health conditions or bring in other risky illnesses that can be prevented by using a CPAP machine, this way, you can avoid extra medical bills.

How long CPAP can be used

The average hours of sleep using CPAP machine is 6 to 7 hours each night.

According to health experts, using the CPAP machine for at least 6 hours will help reduce the long-term health risks of obstructive sleep apnea.

This means that it is the minimum recommended amount of sleep that sleep apnea patients should get using the CPAP machine.

Some people may extend their usage up to 8 hours, which is completely okay, but it’s less likely.

More and more people only sleep for about 6 hours a day as they reach adulthood.

CPAP works as long as you use it but there are also times when patients reported withdrawal benefits.

For example, if you’ve been using CPAP therapy for quite a while and you suddenly stopped using it for the meantime, you may experience an improvement with your comfort and health.

The sleep apnea may stop as well, but it is usually temporary.

Symptoms will come back if you don’t continue using CPAP as you sleep.

The reason why some people cannot tolerate using it longer than 6 hours is because of the fact that there is usually limited movement during sleep.

Older versions of CPAP machine uses a mask that is attached to the machine using a wire or a cord that is not long enough to help give room for the patient to move.

But today, more people are becoming comfortable in using CPAP for 6 hours and longer because the newer CPAP machines are smaller, quieter and provides more mobility compared to before.

There are even “wireless” CPAP masks that are being developed until today which can probably help sleep apnea patients use the machine and sleep with it for more than the average 6 hours.

A well-maintained CPAP machine can last for up to 7 years.

How CPAP was invented

Why CPAP is successful

How long CPAP can be used

Related Questions

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