Patients with obstructive sleep apnea who are prescribed a positive airway pressure machine, commonly known as CPAP, are instructed to use it every night. But that means lugging the device with them on every overnight trip—no small task given the shrinking space for airplane carry-on luggage.

For CPAP users who leave their device at home while they are on vacation, a survey by CPAP maker ResMed found that two-thirds of users cite size as the reason for leaving their CPAP at home.

Skipping therapy is a risky choice. In one study, patients who had heart attacks at night were 6 times more likely to also have obstructive sleep apnea than those whose heart attacks happened during the day. Anecdotally, skipping CPAP therapy has been linked to the sudden deaths of Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia and football player Reggie White.

So what exactly is a travel-friendly CPAP device and how are they different from full-sized CPAPs?

Read the print articles this podcast is based on:

https://sleepreviewmag.com/2017/06/travel-cpaps-earn-wings/

https://sleepreviewmag.com/2018/02/sizing-up-heat-and-moisture-exchangers-travel-cpap/