People with obstructive sleep apnea can reduce their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease if they use a CPAP device that provides positive pressure to the lungs and helps keep the airways open.

Those with obstructive sleep apnea often snore loudly and stop breathing during the night.

This can reduce the amount of oxygen in the blood and cause fatigue.
It can also increase the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

CPAP machines are provided to patients to help them sleep better. Research from Spain’s Institut de Recerca Biomedica de Lleida, presented at the International Congress of the European Lung Association, compared a group of 3,638 sleep apnea patients living in Catalonia who had stopped using the device in 2011 with an equal number of patients who continued to use the device at least until 2015 or until their death.

They found that those who continued to use CPAP had a 40% lower risk of dying from any cause, a 36% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, and an 18% lower risk of being hospitalized for cardiovascular disease.

Also, a second pilot study by St. Vincent’s University Hospital and University College Dublin, Ireland, found that the device may also work better at reducing plaque build-up in the arteries around the heart than a drug for weight loss.

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