Sleep apnea could only reduce with continuous positive pressure ventilation device which is expensive. Here is a study made by Dr Stefania Redolfi, MD and colleagues in Paris and Toronto that just application of simple compression stockings could reduce sleep apnea.

Team@CMHF

Compression stockings might be a simple – and low-tech – way to improve sleep apnea in patients who also have chronic venous insufficiency in the lower limbs, researchers reported.

In a small randomized cross-over study, wearing the stockings during the day reduced episodes of apnea and hypopnea by more than a third. Although more research is needed, the finding is proof of principle that — at least in some patients — the approach may attenuate obstructive sleep apnea

Since compression stockings worn during the day can reduce the accumulation of fluid in the leg, Redolfi and colleagues decided to test the idea that they might also have a secondary effect on the apnea-hypopnea index.

They enrolled 12 non-obese participants who had both obstructive sleep apnea and chronic venous insufficiency and randomly assigned them to one week of wearing the compression stockings or to a one-week control period without the stockings, after which they crossed over to the other arm of the study for another week.

The researchers measured changes in leg fluid volume, neck fluid volume, and the apnea-hypopnea index at the start of the study and again at the end of each period.

Ref: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/SleepDisorders/27912?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&utm_source=WC&userid=333280