5 Things to Know About Central Sleep Apnea and Adaptive Servo-Ventilation Therapy

About 18 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea. The vast majority of those sleep apnea suffers have the “obstructive” form of this condition. But obstructive sleep apnea is only one part of this issue, “central” sleep apnea is also a struggle and for the minority of Americans struggling with CSA, treatment can be tough.

Central sleep apnea occurs when the brain fails to send proper signals to the parts of the body which control breathing. Rather than the standard continuous positive airway pressure machine, or a CPAP machine, used by sufferers of obstruction sleep apnea, those with central sleep apnea may need a type of machine manufactured to treat their special symptoms. Most physicians prescribe an ASV machine, or adaptive servo-ventilation therapy, to these patients. Here’s what you need to know about ASV therapy.

  1. ASV Therapy is All About Support

ASV therapy uses an algorithm, or a set of rules, to ensure that your breathing is supported all night long. This means that when your machine detects that your breathing pattern has changed in a negative way, it knows just what to do to provide back-up support.

  1. ASV Therapy Focuses on Giving Just Enough

Rather than worrying about constant pressured air, ASV is more concerned with the amount of air the patient will receive. ASV works to keep patients breathing at 90% of their maximum and always works to reduce the patient’s efforts to breath throughout the night.

  1. ASV is Reserved for Patient’s Who’ve Failed BiPAP Therapy

Before placing their patients on ASV therapy, most primary care providers will try BiPap therapy first. BiPAP works by providing supportive breaths along with the pressured air similar to that found in CPAP therapy.

  1. Physicians May Prescribe ASV Therapy to Patients with Mixed Sleep Apnea

Mixed sleep apnea means that you’re suffering from both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. For many, ASV therapy works best to treat their symptoms related to both conditions.

  1. Not Everyone Will Benefit from ASV Therapy

In cases where the patient has chronic heart failure, ASV therapy may make this condition worse. Your physician should evaluate you for a reduce left ventricular ejection fraction before starting you on ASV therapy.

Once your health care provider feels that ASV therapy is right for you, contact the sleep specialists here at Breatheeasycpap.com to get set up with the best machine for your treatment. We suggest looking into our gold standard products, like the Philips Respironics System One BiPAP with autoSV Advanced. We’d love to help you get your treatment started off right, whether you’re suffering from obstructive, central, or mixed sleep apnea.

 

 

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