Word: cpap
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...Vietnamese hospitals lacked a basic device called Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), which can provide lifesaving respiratory support for newborns, especially those born prematurely. Ringer says this simple technology consists of a tube that is inserted in the baby’s nose and used to supply pressurized air to help an infant breathe and keep his or her lungs from collapsing...
...while using the technology is simple, Ringer says that convincing Vietnamese doctors to adopt CPAP required Project Vietnam to overcome some obstacles...
...brace to measure my chest movement. Then I was told to relax and fall asleep. Yeah, right. Eventually I did. And then halfway through the night, a nurse came in and put a special mask on my face. It looks like a respirator, which is what it is. The CPAP (an acronym for continuous positive airway pressure) machine is designed to blow air at a steady pressure into your airways to keep you breathing regularly. Hooked up, I drifted off again. The nurse measured my sleep patterns remotely and varied the air pressure in the CPAP to maximize my sleep...
...felt like a 10-year-old after a cappuccino. Since I normally take a couple of hours after I wake up (around 10 a.m.) to arrive at even moderate alertness, I was stunned. What had happened? A week later, I got my results from the sleep clinic. Without the CPAP, I had stopped breathing on average 38 times an hour. I had got absolutely no Stage 4 sleep, the kind that really refreshes your mind and body. With the CPAP machine, I breathed normally, and 17% of my sleep was Stage 4. No wonder I felt better. And that...
...first few nights using the CPAP at home were not quite so dramatic as the clinic stay. It takes a while to get used to the thing, as you can imagine. At first, when you clasp the oh-so-attractive contraption to your head with its Velcro straps, you feel like Jacques Cousteau at a slumber party. But you get used to it. And as each day passed, I felt energy gaining in my mind and body. My postapnea life is just beginning. And for the first time in a long while, I'm raring...