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CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) is a method of respiratory ventilation used primarily in the treatment of sleep apnea, for which it was first developed.
A CPAP machine is used mainly by patients at home for the treatment of sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the patient's airway becomes restricted as the muscles relax naturally during sleep. This restricts breathing and causes arousal from sleep. The PAP machine stops this phenomenon by delivering a stream of compressed air via a CPAP machine and CPAP face mask and hose, splinting the airway (keeping it open under air pressure) so that unobstructed breathing becomes possible, reducing and/or preventing apneas and hypopneas.
The CPAP machine blows air at a prescribed pressure (also called the titrated pressure). The necessary pressure is usually determined by a physician after review of a study supervised by a sleep technician during an overnight study (polysomnography) in a sleep laboratory. The titrated pressure is the pressure of air at which most (if not all) apneas and hypopneas have been prevented, and it is usually measured in centimetres of water (cm H2O).
A typical CPAP machine can deliver pressures between 4 and 20 cm H2O. More specialised units can deliver pressures up to 25 or 30 cm H2O.
CPAP treatment can be highly effective in treating obstructive sleep apnea. For some patients, the improvement in the quality of sleep due to CPAP treatment will be noticed after a single night's use.
More detailed information can be found in Wikipedia's CPAP Article or Ph - 1300 727 996
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