PPS BREATHING PROBLEMS PPS breathing problems are the result of weak muscles. Though the main breathing muscle is the diaphragm , breathing involves all the muscles from mouth to lower abdomen. If you have a weak diaphragm you may suffer pain and fatigue in the muscles of your ribs and back just as a weak left leg may cause pain and fatigue in your good right leg.  The diaphragm is the large muscle that separates the lungs from the abdomen. When we breathe in normally, it pulls down and out expanding the chest cavity, sucking fresh air into the lungs through the mouth or nose. When we breathe out normally, the natural elasticity of the lungs forces the used air out.Because it's 30% more difficult to breathe while laying down, breathing problems usually show up first as sleep problems. The word "Apnea" comes from the Greek word meaning breathless. Sleep Apnea - cessation of breathing during sleep - can be a symptom of many different diseases.
In the case of PPS muscle weakness, incidents of apnea can occur many times per hour without us being aware of it. The events might be caused by diaphragm muscles too tired to function, throat muscles too tired to keep the throat open, or any combination of weak muscles surrounding the chest, including the back muscles. These conditions are usually lumped together under the heading of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, or OSA. Central Sleep Apnea occurs when, due to damage to the brain stem, breathing stops because the brain does not send the signal to take the next breath. In either case, the treatment is the same. Mechanical breathing assistance machine with the ability to start a breath.
A serious injury, illness, or the loss of a loved one can often bring on a sudden increase of PPS symptoms.
The symptoms of sleep apnea include morning headache, difficulty staying asleep at night, falling asleep at inappropriate times, frequent urination during the night, bad dreams, high blood pressure, and more. Cognitive problems include loss of concentration, forgetfulness (some sufferers think they my have Alzheimer's), difficulty making memories, word finding problems, and brain fatigue. Hypoventilation, or barely breathing, is another word we should be aware of. Weak breathing muscles prompt us to breath less and less over time. Eventually we get accustomed to getting by on less oxygen while excess carbon dioxide is stored in our muscles and organs. Long term problems include damage to just about every organ and muscle in the body, but the heart and brain are particularly vulnerable. One very dangerous long-term effect is loss of desire to go on living. Hypoventilation is the word for not breathing enough. Not to be confused with its opposite, hyperventilation.
Carbon dioxide or CO2 is the exhaust from burned energy. The lungs are designed to remove it from the blood, but we can interrupt the process when we use SO2 and/or apply CPAP to a person with breathing muscle weakness.
The most common MIS-Treatment involves a deadly cascade of events often including CPAP, supplemental oxygen, pain medication, antidepressants, blood pressure medication, and the list goes on. CPAP is a machine for treating simple OSA in a person with healthy, strong breathing muscles. It's prescribed for millions of overweight Americans, but it's not generally considered the right treatment for PPS muscle weakness.
Supplemental Oxygen (SO2) is for the treatment of sick lungs, but not necessarily for the treatment of weak breathing muscles. In the case of PPS, SO2 can do more harm than good, especially when coupled with a CPAP machine. O2 increases, but CO2 doesn't come out in a balanced quantity.
Proper treatment is simply a matter of proper mechanically assisted ventilation. This can be achieved by means of any one of a variety of products generally described as bilevel ST machines. These can included Bipap ST, VPAP ST, Volume Ventilators, and others. The features they have in common are that they provide a preset positive pressure into the lungs during the inhale cycle, and a lower pressure while exhaling. They also have a built-in timer that can be set for a minimum number of breaths per minute in case the user doesn't initiate a breath in a timely manner. Bilevel ST machines vary in style and price. Some HMOs and insurance companies will only supply a particular manufacturer's product. It's important to get one that has the timed feature. For example: a BiPAP ST is the right machine, while a BiPAP S is not. S = spontaneous and T = timed. In Spontaneous mode, the user triggers the machine to respond to his or her need for another breath. The Timed feature kicks in when the user goes too long without breathing. This feature is sometimes called a "back-up rate."
BiPAP is the registerd trade mark of Respironics. BiPAP machines come in 3 basic flavors. S, ST, and Auto. The Auto machine can be set to C, S, or ST mode as well as Auto mode which is similar to a Volume Vent. This is usually the least expensive alternative.
VPAP is the registered trademark of ResMed. They come in 2 basic flavors. ST, and Auto. The Auto machine can be set to C, S, or ST mode as well as Auto mode which is similar to a Volume Vent.
Volume Vents are often used in hospital seettings, but are also used in the home. They are able to completely take over breathing when the user is unable to breathe. They usually have an emergancy back-up battery and alarms. They require a different mask, and cost 5 to 10 times more than BiPAP ST.
The user is comfortably hooked up to the machine via a tube (or tubes) and a mask. The most common is a nasal mask. See Rick hook up to his VPAP ST. Click here and watch a short video made by the good folks at Salk's poliotoday.org site.
A nasal mask covers the nose. There are also full face masks that cover the mouth and nose, and nasal canulas that plug in to the nostrils.
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