Posted by Bird Watcher on March 31, 2009 at 09:10:12:In Reply to: Re: CPAP machine data interpretation posted by sleeper on March 31, 2009 at 03:55:05:
I am not that familiar with the DV54D, but if you google "Devilbiss DV54D" you may find some links to additional information on the internet. Your question about breaths per minute and the significance of your 13.5 - 15 number gets into the medical realm. There is a certain number of average breaths per minute that have to happen for the body to sustain functions during sleep, and I don't know what that number is and it would be different for different people. The body decides how many breaths it needs to take. But then, enter a mechanical device such as a PAP machine, and an auto adjusting PAP at that. The body may not know exactly what to do and maybe takes too many breaths in periods of time, and needs to stop breathing then, in which case you'll get a central apnea. This cycle may repeat again and again throughout the night with some people.
I think there is a school of thought in the medical community (which I'm not a part of) that thinks PAP data should not be shared with the patient because it leads people to over-analyze and worry about their situation. One thing I know it that the limit pressures on auto PAPs should not be ignored. The machines are usually capable of 4 to 20 cm of pressure changes, but that's a range for a wide number of people and not any one person. I would strongly suggest to any Auto-pap user that the range should not be more than 5 cm from low to high limit. Many people don't need pressure close to 20 cm. Having the upper limit set wide open to the machine's mechanical limit may induce the body to take too many breaths and could cause central apneas in some people. This would not be the case if the person really needs close to 20 cm, though. To zero in on this potential problem, a person can watch their AHI number and relate this to the limit settings of the machine.
The whole idea of auto-paps their data and their settings is a complicated subject. It leads to the question of what kind of patient is best suited for an auto-pap? I think the answer is a person that already does ok on straight CPAP but is looking for better results. With an Auto, you start off your CPAP pressure number and use it as your high limit and program the lower limit for something 5 cm below. Then after going a few nights on that, you raise the upper limit one cm at a time for three nights and see if there is any improvement in sleep quality. If no quality improvement happens, the upper limit should be reset back to the starting number. Doing something like this is certainly better than giving a person an auto-pap set for 4- 20 cm and trying to see if they can breath on that.
- Re: CPAP machine data interpretation sleeper 17:42 4/08/09 (0)