Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1996 Dec;19(10):774-82.
doi: 10.1093/sleep/19.10.774.

Acute withdrawal of nasal CPAP in obstructive sleep apnea does not cause a rise in stress hormones

R R Grunstein  1 , D A Stewart, H Lloyd, M Akinci, N Cheng, C E Sullivan
Affiliations

Acute withdrawal of nasal CPAP in obstructive sleep apnea does not cause a rise in stress hormones

R R Grunstein et al. Sleep. 1996 Dec.

Abstract

We hypothesized that withdrawal of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in patients with sleep apnea would produce a measurable stress response. To test this hypothesis, we ceased CPAP in eight patients regularly using nasal CPAP long term and measured the effect on sleep apnea as well as plasma and urinary levels of the stress hormones, noradrenaline, cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). CPAP withdrawal led to an immediate recurrence of sleep apnea with increases in apnea index, arousal index and oxygen desaturation (all p < .0001) but no change in levels of noradrenaline, cortisol or ACTH. We conclude that acute withdrawal of CPAP in patients with sleep apnea does not lead to a classic stress response.

PubMed Disclaimer