Okay, boots on. Let’s do this.

Stop Pretending Your CPAP is a Paperweight: Veteran Edition.

Look, I get it. You’re tired. We all are. But this CPAP machine gathering dust next to your bed? It’s not a suggestion, people. It’s potentially the only thing standing between you and a whole heap of new problems. And some of them ain’t fixable.

The 3 AM Brain Dump

Sleep apnea. Doctors love throwing that term around. But what actually is it? Bottom line: You stop breathing. For seconds. Minutes. Repeatedly. While you’re supposed to be resting. The Mayo Clinic will tell you it’s a disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or shallow breaths during sleep. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sleep-apnea/symptoms-causes/syc-20377631 Okay, fine.

But the real kicker is what that does to your body. Oxygen desaturation, chronic inflammation—it’s a cascade. And not the fun kind where you’re rafting down the Colorado. We’re talking systemic damage.

Now, the fancy, clinical types will tell you about the “apnea-hypopnea index,” or AHI. How many times an hour your breathing goes to pot. They’ll break it down by REM vs. non-REM sleep. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I’ve seen guys with “mild” apnea develop serious cardiac issues within a year because they blew off the treatment.

The Hardware Doesn’t Lie

CPAP machines… Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. It’s literally forced air. A steady stream to keep your throat open. The mask sucks, yeah. The hose gets tangled. But it works. When you use it. I know, “It’s uncomfortable,” blah blah blah. So is a catheter, but I didn’t see you complaining back in ’03.

Johns Hopkins Medicine has a whole explainer on positive airway pressure therapies, if you want the nitty-gritty details. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/positive-airway-pressure-therapy

But here’s the thing they often leave out: Your brain adapts. Eventually. And it’s better than a stroke.

Risk Factors: Or, Why You’re Probably Reading This.

Service-connected this, service-connected that. We all got our baggage. Increased BMI? Check. PTSD? Double check. TBI? Probably. These all contribute. The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is doing some seriously fascinating—and frankly terrifying—research on the link between sleep disruption and neurodegenerative diseases. https://www.salk.edu/news-release/brain-changes-caused-by-sleep-disturbance-could-predispose-people-to-alzheimers-disease/

The data says correlation, not causation. But in my 30 years, I’ve seen the guys who ignore the apnea end up with all sorts of neurological nastiness down the road.

It’s basic biology. Period.