Featured Article Academic Journal Main Category: Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology Article Date: 16 Sep 2013 - 8:00 PDT
Current ratings for: 'Beauty rest' effect of CPAP sleep apnea treatment
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Getting a good night's rest can improve our health in many ways. And now, a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine is the first of its kind to analyze how patients appear more alert, youthful and attractive after undergoing sleep apnea treatment for 2 months.
The treatment, called continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, can stop snoring, improve alertness and reduce blood pressure by keeping the airway open through a stream of air delivered by a mask that is worn during sleep.
It helps patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which researchers say is a sleep illness that is linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, depression and stroke.
However, for some patients, sticking with the CPAP treatment can be a challenge because they must wear the breathing mask all through the night.
After anecdotal stories about how patients appeared to look better after consistently following CPAP treatment, researchers led by Dr. Ronald D. Chervin, of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of Michigan, decided to test whether improved facial appearance could be objectively measured in patients.
"We perceived that our CPAP patients often looked better, or reported that they'd been told they looked better, after treatment," says Dr. Chervin. "But no one has ever actually studied this."
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'Beauty rest' effect of CPAP sleep apnea treatment