- Obese people with sleep apnea, a common nighttime breathing disorder, may live longer when they use a machine to help keep their airways open while they sleep, a recent study suggests.
"This has several consequences, including increased risk of cardiovascular diseases," Lisan said by email."PAP therapy allows a better oxygenation of the body during sleep, hence lowering the risk of these associated conditions, which in turn might decrease mortality." One drawback of PAP machines is that they can be noisy and uncomfortable, and sometimes make it difficult for patients to fall or remain asleep.
One limitation of the results is that it's not clear how consistently patients on PAP used the machines as prescribed, which can affect the treatment's effectiveness.