Understanding effects of obstructive sleep apnoea and its treatment on the brain and autonomic regulation needs further research

We thank Dr. Jaster for reading our articles with interest and sharing his thoughts on the potential impacts of untreated obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) effects on medullary brain nuclei. There are three topics we would like to address: (I) the hypothesis of an association between OSA and ischemic pathology of medullary brain nuclei and a potential exacerbation by CPAP, (II) the different roles of pCO2 in OSA and central sleep apnoea (CSA), and (III) the effects of a short-term CPAP withdrawal on the brain and the heart.