MONDAY, Jan. 3 (HealthDay News) - Treatment with a common therapy helped obstructive sleep apnea patients acquire more vitality and get less fatigued in only 3 weeks and the gains appeared to be the effect of more than merely a placebo effect, a new report shows.
People with sleep apnea often unconsciously wake up scores of times during the dark when their airways become blocked.
The term can get heavy snoring, daytime somnolence and fatigue.
Patients with the term often undergo sleep tests and are then prescribed continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. The treatment entails wearing a disguise during sleep that keeps their airwaves open by sending a regular flow of air down their throats.
In the new study, published in the Jan. 1 release of the journal Sleep, 59 patients with an average age of 48 were assigned to get treatment with either a CPAP device or a placebo (sham) device. The survey participants were trained on how to use the device they were assigned and told to take it base and use it every night for 3 weeks. The patients completed questionnaires on their levels of wear and daytime sleepiness both earlier and afterwards the report period.
According to the results, after the three-week treatment period, participants receiving CPAP therapy were no longer experiencing clinically significant levels of fatigue.
"This was one of the low double-blind studies of the effects of CPAP on fatigue," study author Lianne Tomfohr, a graduate research assistant in the joint doctoral program at San Diego State University and the University of California at San Diego, said in a news release from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
"These results are important, as they highlight that patients who follow with CPAP therapy can obtain rest from wear and experience increases in vitality and vigor after a relatively short treatment period," Tomfohr added.
An estimated 2 percent to 4 percent of adults have sleep apnea, according to background information from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
More information
For more about sleep apnea, visit the U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
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