A Brief History of Sleep Apnea Treatment

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that affects many people around the world. If it’s left untreated it can cause a variety of debilitating health problems, including heart disease and stroke. We’ve got a lot to thank science for though because, in recent times, there have been many advances in the treatment of sleep apnea. Let’s take a look at the history of sleep apnea treatment and see how things have changed over the years!

As common as sleep apnea is, and with no doubt it has been around since the start of time, it’s only more recently that knowledge of the condition and available treatments is becoming more widespread. Historical documents indicate that symptoms alluding to sleep apnea have been around and observed for thousands of years but were commonly misunderstood. Thankfully studies have given us a much better understanding of the condition, and more importantly, some very effective therapies to help people with the condition sleep easier and safeguard their health.

In the 1800s sleep apnea was considered to be an affliction only related to obesity and it took many years before the condition became more widely understood and medical treatments developed. During this era, doctors grouped together a variety of sleep apnea symptoms and termed the condition “Pickwickian Syndrome,” taken from Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers, in which an overweight character named Joe exhibits clear symptoms of what would later be known as sleep apnea.

Great advances were made in the 1950s and 60s when research into sleep apnea discovered the problem was actually more complex and signalled that a person was actually not breathing properly during their sleep.

Continuing research intensified during the next decade and proposed treatments were developed and initially tested on dogs and then used on humans. The way of dealing with the suspected blockage in the throat was to perform a tracheotomy where doctors would cut a hole in the patient’s throat to help them breathe. This was considered to be somewhat effective as it was a straightforward way of allowing airflow but it came with a lot of risks, including infection and even sometimes death.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Colin Sullivan designed what became a standard treatment for sleep apnea: a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. It uses a facial mask connected to an air pump to continuously deliver oxygen to the body throughout the night, ensuring that the airway is kept open. The same basic concept was used by Colin Sullivan over 40 years and is still in use today assisting millions of people to get better sleep.

This was a big step forward as it was less invasive than tracheotomy and it was more comfortable for patients. However, the original CPAP machines were very large and heavy and they needed to be plugged into the wall so they couldn’t be used on the go. In the 1980s, portable CPAP machines were invented which made it much easier for people with sleep apnea to get treatment. These machines were still quite large and heavy, but they could be run off batteries so people could use them while travelling. Now, CPAP machines are much more portable and can be taken to most places.

However, the CPAP machine isn’t without fault, as many patients find it extremely unpleasant and loud, leading to many people giving up using it. Eventually, doctors, particularly dentists, began providing a more conservative treatment called oral appliance therapy, in which an airway is kept open with a small, custom-made mouthpiece. This was found to be an excellent method for treating mild to severe sleep apnea individuals and is a popular treatment option today as it’s non-invasive.

In recent years and thanks to science, there have been many advances in the treatment of sleep apnea, including new types of CPAP machines that are smaller and more lightweight, and new oral appliances that are more comfortable for patients to wear. There are also now a number of apps and devices that can be used to track your sleep apnea symptoms and help you get treatment.