2024-02-29 07:54:54
In Belgium, more than 170,000 people need a respirator to sleep, according to figures from Inami, an increase of 30% in five years, reports Le Soir on Thursday.
According to the latest figures from Inami, in 2022, 171,280 people benefited from reimbursement for CPAP (continuous positive pressure ventilation) intended to treat their disorder, an increase of 30% in five years.
The increase in treatment for sleep apnea is only partly explained by greater awareness among doctors. Our more sedentary lifestyles, which lead to more obesity, also increase the risk. Just like the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. The proposed treatment can therefore only be based on hygienic and dietary measures to lose weight, stop smoking and alcohol, and return to sport? Only more severely affected patients are offered positive pressure ventilation, which constantly sends air into the airways.
Since April 2023, Inami has also reimbursed an innovative treatment: stimulation of the hypoglossal nerve. “CPAP is 100% effective, but between 20 and 30% of patients will not be able to tolerate the device to sleep,” explains Professor Rombaux, from the otorhinolaryngology department of the Saint-Luc university clinics. “And until now we were helpless, but now we can offer them this technique which consists of placing electrodes on a nerve of the tongue.”
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