Last updated on July 7th, 2023 at 02:09 pm
New research, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, shows that CPAP therapy lowers cortisol in apneic patients. Cortisol, also known as the stress hormone, is known to increase blood pressure, reduce immune system activity and lower bone formation, amongst many other effects.
Doctor Vgontzas of Penn State University College of Medicine and his research partners concluded:
Nonpsychologically distressed, normally sleeping, obese men had low cortisol secretion. The cortisol secretion was slightly activated by SA and returned to low by CPAP use. The low cortisol secretion in obesity through its inferred hyposecretion of hypothalamic CRH might predispose the obese to sleep apnea.
I have to say most of this type of lingo (“hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity” anyone?) is well over my head but in the forums, we had been wondering about the more intricate details of sleep apnea and the effects of it and CPAP on the various processes in the body. Research like this piece it all together slowly.
See in the forums:
- Does CPAP change blood/oxygen relationship
- Red blood cell count
- The wake up cell