Experts Share the Benefits of CPAP Therapy Backed by Science

Millions of people are living with the life-altering effects of untreated sleep apnea, whether it's because they've gone undiagnosed or they have concerns about starting treatment. 

If you fall into the second category, you may be wondering whether using a CPAP device is actually worth it. For many people with sleep apnea, CPAP therapy can be life-changing, thanks to the many CPAP benefits that arise once you after you start treating sleep apnea effectively.

Today we’ll be discussing these positive effects of CPAP, which include a lower risk of death and improved physical and mental health.

CPAP therapy isn’t just about better sleep. It may actually help you live longer. People with untreated sleep apnea face a higher risk of dying, especially from heart-related conditions like stroke or heart attack.

But the more consistently you use your CPAP machine, the more likely you are to experience benefits. Even if you’ve tried CPAP before and stopped, it’s not too late. Restarting therapy can still help you live longer.

By keeping your airway open, CPAP helps prevent oxygen drops and nighttime wake-ups that strain your body, reducing long-term health risks over time.

Untreated sleep apnea puts serious strain on your cardiovascular system, increasing your risk for conditions like heart disease, coronary artery disease, and atrial fibrillation.

The American Heart Association warns that sleep apnea can also make existing heart failure worse, leading to more hospitalizations and a higher risk of death.

CPAP therapy relieves a lot of this stress by keeping your oxygen levels stable and allowing your tissues to heal themselves. Over time, this support can lower your risk of heart failure and reduce your chances of dying from a cardiovascular event.

Without proper treatment, OSA causes the lining of your blood vessels to become inflamed, damaged, and dysfunctional, resulting in a higher risk for stroke, caused by:

• Blood clots in the brain
• Damaged vessels leading to brain bleeds

Staying consistent with your CPAP therapy prevents damage to blood vessels, lowering your risk of having a stroke.

If you're interested in learning more about this connection, read our article on sleep apnea and stroke.

When you don't use your CPAP machine consistently, it causes your blood vessels to become stiff and unable to relax, leading to an increase in blood pressure. 

In fact, 89% of unexplained high blood pressure in young adults is believed to be related to untreated sleep apnea.

Once you introduce CPAP therapy and start using it at least 4 hours per night, your body begins to heal this damage:

• Lowering your heart rate
• Reducing your blood pressure
• Potentially minimizing need for medication

Sleep apnea has been shown to trigger insulin resistance, which is the main driver of type 2 diabetes. So it's not surprising to find that diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea tend to occur together.

One unexpected benefit of using CPAP therapy to manage sleep apnea is that it has the potential to reduce your blood sugar levels and even lower your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 

This is likely because they have similar root causes and possibly even a shared genetic predisposition, like poor oxygenation, inflammation, and insulin resistance.

Untreated sleep apnea often leads to fatigue and a sluggish metabolism, making it harder to stay active and maintain a healthy weight. It can also disrupt the hormones that regulate hunger and satiety, increasing the odds of weight gain the longer sleep apnea goes untreated.

By restoring your sleep quality and minimizing the effects of sleep apnea, CPAP therapy can have a positive effect on body weight by:

• Boosting energy levels
• Supporting healthy metabolism
• Making it easier to be physically active

While CPAP isn’t a weight loss tool on its own, treating your sleep apnea is likely to make weight loss easier. 

When your breathing pauses throughout the night, your body never gets the deep, restorative rest it needs, leaving you feeling fatigued, groggy, sluggish, and struggling to get through the day.

CPAP puts a stop to these interruptions so you sleep soundly all night long, giving your brain and body the rest they need to function at their best throughout each day.

Research shows that using your CPAP equipment consistently for just 5 hours per night is enough to see a dramatic drop in daytime sleepiness and feel more focused, energized, and alert.

When your brain is repeatedly deprived of oxygen at night, it affects memory, focus, mood, and even increases your risk for long-term conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

When you use CPAP and breathe better at night, your brain gets more oxygen and fewer wake-ups. This helps prevent brain damage caused by sleep apnea, even if you've been impacted by other neurological diseases.

Over time, sleep apnea treatment may also reverse some of the damage caused by untreated OSA.

By improving sleep quality and maintaining the oxygen levels in your brain, CPAP supports cognitive function and helps keep your memory, mood, and focus sharp for years to come.

Sleep apnea headaches are common, even in mild cases, and they often start your morning off on the wrong foot.

Treating your sleep apnea helps by preventing the repeated drops in oxygen that trigger morning headaches. When your breathing stays steady overnight, your oxygen levels stabilize, and so does the pressure in your head.

With consistent use, CPAP can reduce both the frequency and intensity of sleep apnea–related headaches, so you can wake up feeling like yourself and ready to take on the day.

Sleep apnea clouds your thinking, shortens your attention span, and makes it harder to remember things, especially in the morning. 

Yet, too many people have no idea how bad their sleep apnea brain fog is until after they start CPAP therapy.

Sleeping with a CPAP machine gives your brain a deep, restorative reset it needs to work properly. 

Just one night of treatment can lead to faster thinking and reaction time, with better attention to detail. These results just get better with more consistent CPAP use, leading to improved memory, fewer mistakes, and more careful decision-making.

It's estimated that over half the people with OSA struggle with sleep apnea-related anxiety and/or depression.

When you get poor sleep, it takes a serious toll on your mental health, especially when you combine it with dips in oxygen that damage your brain.

But research suggests that using your CPAP machine for at least 5 hours per night can significantly improve your mental health, even after just 3 months.

CPAP gives your mind and body a rest. As your sleep improves, your brain restores its function and manages stress more effectively, leaving you feeling calmer, clearer, and more like yourself.

Having untreated sleep apnea makes it hard to perform your job consistently and correctly because it affects concentration, task performance, and problem-solving.

One report found that people with moderate to severe sleep apnea were nearly 3 times more likely to have lost multiple jobs throughout their lives.

CPAP therapy can help significantly improve the way your brain works, leading to better productivity on the job.

6 months of CPAP therapy can lead to better job performance and fewer signs of burnout, such as feeling less physically tired, emotionally drained, and mentally foggy.

If you have untreated sleep apnea, you may wake up dozens—or even hundreds—of times each night, often without realizing it.

These constant interruptions make it harder for your body to experience deep, restorative REM sleep, leaving you feeling groggy and tired throughout the day.

When used correctly, CPAP therapy starts to reduce these events almost immediately, with one study finding that REM sleep increased by half even when testing out CPAP for the first time during titration studies.

These improvements lead to better sleep quality and more daytime alertness, which are noticeable within weeks of therapy. And like other CPAP benefits, they have been shown to only get better with time.

While snoring by itself doesn't always mean you have sleep apnea, loud snoring is considered to be a tell-tale sign of OSA, with an estimated 94% of cases involving snoring.

If you have a bed partner, your snoring probably doesn't just affect you. Studies show that the majority of sleep apnea partners experience loss of sleep, primarily due to snoring.

The good news is that once you start CPAP therapy, the snoring usually gets better and often even goes away completely, meaning better sleep for you and your partner.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine reports that having sleep apnea makes you 2.5 times more likely to be the driver in a car accident.

Over just one year in the United States, over 800,000 drivers were involved in sleep apnea-related car accidents. 

These events are believed to be caused by excessive daytime sleepiness and poor sleep quality that is associated with sleep apnea.

However, the ASSM also reports that your risk of getting into a car accident is significantly lower when you consistently use a CPAP machine for at least four hours per night.

Obstructive sleep apnea causes damage to your blood vessels, creates inflammation, and puts a lot of extra stress on your body. 

Without treatment, these effects can lead to things like:

• Erectile dysfunction
• Lower sperm quality
• Reduce testosterone levels

Using a CPAP machine improves blood flow. and protects the parts of your body and brain that affect your sexual health and performance. 

Research suggests these benefits of CPAP become even better over time. 

By targeting the systems affected by sleep apnea, CPAP therapy helps to restore your health, leading to improved sexual function, better fertility, and higher sexual satisfaction scores.

Sleep apnea is associated with poor sleep health, increased inflammation, and even faster aging.

Left untreated, OSA can:

• Throw off your hormones
• Disrupt your menstrual cycle
• Decrease your sex drive
• Worsen menopause symptoms
• Increase infertility rates

While CPAP isn’t a cure-all for women's health, it helps to take the pressure off your system so your body can restore balance.

Starting CPAP therapy can improve some of these issues because it targets underlying factors, such as high stress levels and poor sleep health.

Women who use CPAP therapy consistently may enjoy a better sex life, potential improvement in menopause symptoms, and more stable mood. 

Additionally, there is an ongoing study examining the effects of OSA and CPAP therapy on women's metabolic and reproductive health.

Growing a baby predisposes you to sleep apnea due to the hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy.

It's estimated that 1-in-4 pregnancies will develop OSA during the third trimester, increasing the risk of serious complications, such as pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction.

Studies suggest that pregnant women who develop sleep apnea experience significant benefits from CPAP therapy.

Treating gestational OSA with a CPAP machine means fewer risks for pregnancy complications, including: 

• Gestational hypertension
• Pre-eclampsia.
• Gestational diabetes
• Pre-term delivery
• Poor sleep quality

Unmanaged sleep apnea can take a toll on your relationship, especially if you're a snorer. 

It’s easy for you or your partner to become withdrawn or moody when you’re both struggling with poor sleep night after night.

Sleep apnea partners often report feeling as though sleep apnea has a negative impact on their relationship. However, their frustration tends to improve once their loved one starts CPAP therapy.

CPAP compliance is linked to more social interactions, better daily function, and improved emotional regulation. Each of these things plays a role in maintaining healthy relationships with others.

With your sleep apnea under control, you'll experience a whole lot more than great sleep. The benefit of CPAP is that it reduces your risk for serious conditions, both physically and mentally. And in the process, it lowers your chances of dying, sharpens your mind, and even helps your relationships. With all of these CPAP benefits, it’s easy to see why continuous positive airway pressure therapy is often considered a life-changing treatment for people living with sleep apnea!