Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a growing problem around the world. It is a sleep disorder where the muscles of the upper airway relax when asleep, obstructing the air passage and causes the body to keep waking up throughout the night. These intermittent disruptions lead to poor quality sleep, causing side effects like loss of productivity and complicating health challenges like diabetes and hypertension.

In India, too, the cases of obstructive sleep apnea in women are rising. While men are more prone to obstructive sleep apnea, it can affect women and children as well. However, generally people in the age bracket of 18 and 60 years and children between the ages of five and ten years are more at risk of suffering from obstructive sleep apnea. 

Women Face Unique Sleep Challenges

According to some estimates, the probability of obstructive sleep apnea in women increases with age—from 2% at age 30 to 28% at 60 years. Women also experience different sleep apnea symptoms than men.

• Usually, women take longer than men to fall asleep and sleep lesser than the normal seven to nine hours of sleep.

• Women also experience more flow limitation. This means, women experience narrowing of the upper airways much more than men, which leads to less air entering the lungs.

• In addition, women experience a number of events during the REM sleep(dream stage).

• It has also been reported that women are kept awake due to their sleeping environments as well. 

All of these factors combine together to disrupt their sleep and increase their vulnerability to fatigue, insomnia, headaches, depression, and even reduction in cognitive abilities.

With women facing unique sleep-related challenges anyway, those suffering from obstructive sleep apnea face more difficulties getting a full night's sleep. CPAP machines are used to treat OSA patients. However, women with their unique challenges need devices that can address these problems and help them sleep soundly.

The CPAP Device Designed for Women

The AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her is a CPAP device especially designed to treat mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea symptoms in women. This automatic device comes with a host of features that protect women from clusters of events during the REM sleep. When the device senses flow limitation, it makes adjustments quickly to ensure adequate air and oxygen reaches the lungs. The results of clinical trials have revealed that this female-specific device leads to significant improvement in flow limitation.

ResMed's AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her ensures that the average air pressure is maintained at a lower level with adjustments to air pressure hardly noticeable. This is particularly useful to help women fall asleep as they anyway take longer to fall asleep and a higher pressure may further disturb it. The AutoRamp feature can detect the beginning of sleep and increases the pressure once the patient has fallen asleep. This makes it comfortable for women to fall asleep without worrying about optimum air pressure adjustments during the night.

Since the AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her makes it comfortable for women to get an unobstructed sleep during the night, they tend to embrace and continue with the treatment for obstructive sleep apnea in women. 

Features of the ResMed AirSense 10 AutoSet

The AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her comes with a HumidAir Heated Humidifier which features the AutoSet algorithm integrated with the comfort of the Optional ClimateLineAir Heated Tube.

Further, since this automatic CPAP device is auto-titrating, it can adjust the pressure depending on every breath of the patient and ensure that the patient gets an optimum air pressure enough to maintain the airway.

This woman-specific automatic CPAP device weighs 1.2 kg and is significantly lighter than most automatic CPAP devices available on the market. A light and compact design, however, does not mean that the device compromises with comfort or performance. The device comes with numerous features including Expiratory Pressure Relief, Auto Features, My Options Color LCD Display, Light Sensor, and Advanced Data.

The AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her can be used on automatic or normal device mode. The device has a pressure sensor which is located at the device outlet and is an analog gauge pressure sensor. The flow sensor is internally located at the device inlet. In the presence of a single fault, the device shuts down if the steady state pressure exceeds: 30 cm H2O (30 hPa) for more than 6 sec or 40 cm H2O (40 hPa) for more than 1 sec.

With ResMed's AirSense 10 AutoSet for Her, women get a CPAP device that is tailored to work with their distinct sleep patterns. This improves its efficiency and users experience better treatment outcomes, ensuring that they continue their CPAP therapy.

If you or a loved one has been advised CPAP therapy, ResMed CPAP machines are some of the best ones available. Designed for everyday use, they are compact, quiet and comfortable, helping you quickly adapt to therapy and find relief.

If you’re still exploring CPAP therapy and whether it’s a good option for you, take the CPAP trial to know for sure.