Oxygen therapy for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) treatment is not a first-line treatment.
Low arousal threshold is another metric for the drive to breathe.
Oxygen therapy may help when these factors are at work, though more research is needed.
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You havehypoxemiaif oxygen levels in your blood dip below 88% for more than five minutes.
More oxygen can’t help if it doesn’t reach the lungs.
For oxygen, research yields mixed results.
Other studies find a modest benefit that increases dramatically in people with specific OSA factors.
This can leave them at greater risk for cardiovascular conditions like stroke or a heart attack.
Some studies find that CPAP lowers the risk of complications like high blood pressure but oxygen alone does not.
More research is needed to see if both used together is an effective approach.
A formal sleep study may be the first step toward optimizing your health and well-being.
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