[News] Provent Reportedly Goes Out of Business

[DocWils]

A significant part of the reason is the horrible American diet. The obesity rate in the U.S. drives up health care costs and lowers life expectancy at the same time.

As opposed to the Aussie diet of beer and more stubbies (more beer)? A lot of countries have higher obesity rates- the Germans can be scary, and Brits are increasingly chubby too, for instance. The high health costs and mortality rate has to do with other things than obesity alone - a big one isn't the obesity but the lack of movement - it is continuous movement that helps lower triglyceride levels and keeps the heart fit, and Americans as a whole are far more static than Europeans - they drive EVERYWHERE, they sit around most days in static jobs and in front of the boobtoob all evening. They consume far too much medicine in comparison with with other countries, and combine far too many as well.

Do you want one big secret to longevity? Very simple - three times a week, get on a stationary bike and get up to 90% of your max heart rate for 30 seconds, then rest for 90, do it again three times. That's it. do that every second day, and you will lower you blood fats massively, up several important hormones in your body that protect you, and give your heart a decent workout. Add to that WALK! Just do 30 minutes every day at a decent pace (don't mosey) - walk to your supermarket, walk around the block or the park, just walk. And take a low dose aspirin every morning. It is all that simple. Beyond that, there isn't much to say - don't eat a ton of salty things every day, use olive oil instead of peanut oil, eat some fish or take fish oil supplements, keep dairy down a bit, ease off on the red meat all the time, more or less just do things in moderation. It doesn't mean you can't do a big feast when you want to, just don't do it every meal, and when you can, cook at home, don't eat out, especially fast foods. And cut back on the biggest killer of all - no it is not fats, it is SUGAR. Sugar of any kind. Just reduce it.

Time and again, research has shown us the consistent ingredients to longevity and good health - the above is it - it is the common factor in all national diets in the lands with the lowest mortality rates.

I don't meed to mention don't smoke or do drugs, do I? I am pretty sure that one is obvious by now.

That's all it takes. And that is where the US falls down and why Oz has a better record - for the most part they are more active and outdoors-y. It tends to counteract the booze a fair bit. Plus they practice far more aggressive preventive medicine there, whereas the US tends to practice reactive medicine. But that is less a factor than the others mentioned above.

[boomer235]

I am using Provent now. I have not yet had a sleep study, but my wife can attest to my apnea. The provent made a huge difference in the quality of rest I get, and my wife has said that it makes me sleep more peacefully. I believe my Apnea was not that severe. I have dropped about 35 lbs since starting about a year ago, and I don't fall asleep in the middle of the day any more. I will have to try and get as many as I can soon.
I have a facial neuralgia that has prevented me from even thinking about a CPAP.
I just obtained a CMS 50D+ and imported the data into sleepyhead today. My sp02 averaged 97 and I had 19 'events' dropping as low as 90 at one point so I think I'll collect more data before I draw conclusions . I will have to do an experiment without the Provent and see how I do as well. Thanks to the board for all the great info.

[DocWils]

How did you get Provent without a prescription - so far as I know it is not available without it. A drop to 90 is is not unusual, and is still in the "safe" zone - Clinically, that wouldn't be considered bad unless the drops were of long duration, but inside of, say, 30 seconds should be fine. To be sure of these drops, go to the event itself and expand the timeline (in sleepyhead right mouse click on it) until the event is expanded sufficiently for you to see fine detail of the drop, and determine the exact length of the event itself.

[boomer235]

My Primary care Dr gave me a RX for a Provent trial to see if it made a difference with my Neuralgia and sleep, which it did. There was only one drop to 89 for a second, there is a brief gap in the data, and it is at the same time I logged a trip to the restroom. The other events were drops to 95 all less than 30 sec. I have night 2 data now. I had 4 events, dropping to 93. One was greater than 30 sec at 5 minutes dropping to 95 sp02. I would still like to get a sleep study without the Provent, but I am all booked up with Neuralgia appointments right now.

[DocWils]

There is nothing in the numbers that you gave to me to show anything even mildly alarming - in fact, it is very good, better than most "healthy" non-hose-heads, and at levels that most hose-heads aspire to - I assume when you say a drop to 95 you mean form 97% because if you are getting above that then you are actually getting too much oxygen saturation for most people - if you monitor is showing a consistent reading of, say, 98 or 99%, try it on another finger, to be sure that it simply isn't the finger that is the problem (it does happen with these devices). A drop to 93 is so far within the norm that it cannot really have any effect on your short term energy or long term health. The drop to 89 is just as likely because of a skipped breath, a long hard swallow or cough or some other minor problem than anything else.

Whatever your problem is, it is small enough for Provent to do the trick, although I do not know what you'll do once the stuff is off the market - out of curiosity, do you use them for only one night or do you try to stretch them out for a few?


Either way, I would hazard a guess that whatever apnoea you have is relatively minor and may even be cause by other factors, as Provent simply isn't strong enough to help on deeper or more complex apnoeas. As such, you should feel assured, and instead take steps, mostly lifestyle changes, to "head it off at the pass" and reduce the possibility of it getting worse. As for sleep testing, I would advise to get off the Provent for at least a few days, even a week, before doing the test, to ensure that your system is running at its "worst", so to speak, in order to give a clearer reading and more accurate real data.

[boomer235]

I average 97. I think my Apnea is or at least was closely related to weight. I am 6' and it didn't really start becoming a problem until I edged over 200 lbs. When the Apnea started so did a cycle of Carb craving during the day and massive sleepiness. Both got worse until I was 245 lbs when I started Provent. I am back to 210 a year later. I am curious what my readings would have been at 245, but not that curious ;-)
I am hopeful that continued weight loss will get me back to normal sleep, but I am still a bit nervous to get off them, as occasionally I will tear one of in the middle of the night and be very tired the next day. I only use them once, as they don't stay attached for multiple nights. I will definitely get off them before a sleep test, and after my own tests. I think that it is important to note that I modify the Provent. I perforate the clear membrane with a needle several times ( about 10) which achieves less resistance. I found that I revert less to mouth breathing when I do this. I experimented quite a bit before arriving at this compromise that seems to have achieved a good result. I was hopeful that Provent would be produced in multiple 'resistance' levels, but apparently the market can barely sustain one.

[boomer235]

Thank you for the great advice and info. I really appreciate it. On the Provent note. I received news from my supplier that Provent has been acquired by another company and production will continue.