CPAP Treatment for Sleep Apnea Improves Men's Golf Game

A study shows that men improve their golf game, a 31.5% drop on their handicap, when their sleep apnea is treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. The game improvement is attributed to better concentration, endurance and decision making resulting from the treatment.

Sleep Apnea is a disorder where a person has shallow, obstructed, or paused breathing while asleep. Each pause in breathing is called an apnea. The apnea can vary from a few seconds to a few minutes. A loud snort or choking sound happens when normal breathing resumes.

A person moves out of the deep sleep state into light sleep when breathing is hindered because of sleep apnea. This results in poor sleep quality, fatigue and excessive daytime sleepiness. Sleep apnea treatments involve keeping the air passage open, allowing the patient to breath easily. CPAP therapy uses a device that assists in breathing while the person is sleeping. It is a tight fitting face mask that is attached to a machine to regulate breathing.

In the study, after a six month CPAP therapy improves daytime sleepiness, sleep-related quality of life, and an 11 percent drop in their average golf handicap index.