184. Dr. Sahil Chopra & Sagar Chopra: Why Your Sleep Apnea Machine Might Be Lying to You

Millions of people wear a CPAP machine every night, the standard breathing device prescribed for sleep apnea. They trust the number on the screen to tell them their sleep apnea is under control. I've had patients tell me they stopped using theirs because it felt pointless, and it turns out that feeling was often correct.

We dive deeper into this in this episode of Extend with Dr. Sahil Chopra and Sagar Chopra, co-founders of Empower Sleep. We also chat about why palate shape and mouth breathing are driving more sleep apnea in kids, how GLP-1 medications are changing the CPAP conversation, and the truth about lip taping.

Dr. Sahil Chopra is a pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine physician trained at UCLA and Loma Linda, with fellowship training in sleep medicine at Harvard. He is co-founder of Empower Sleep, a longitudinal home sleep testing platform used by physicians and patients nationwide. Sagar Chopra holds an MBA from the Wharton School, previously worked on product growth at Uber, and co-founded Empower Sleep alongside his brother, Dr. Sahil Chopra.

What We Discuss:

(8:04) The Landmark Study: 25,000 Nights of Data and the CPAP Discordance Problem

(13:43) Inside the Empower Sleep Device and How It Differs From Wearables

(25:27) Palate Shape, Mouth Breathing, and the Rise of Pediatric Sleep Apnea

(30:31) Menopause, Andropause, and Why Sleep Apnea Shows Up Later in Life

(41:53) Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulators and Central Sleep Apnea

(47:27) How GLP-1 Medications Are Changing Sleep Apnea Treatment

(51:13) The Truth About Lip Taping and Nasal Breathing

Thank You to Our Sponsors:

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Learn more about Dr. Shah:

Website: drshah.com/

Clinic: next-health.com/

Instagram: @darshanshahmd

Learn more about Dr. Sahil Chopra and Sagar Chopra:

Empower Sleep: empowersleep.com/

Sagar Chopra on LinkedIn: choprasagar/

Sagar Chopra on X: schopsss

More Resources:

Quality sleep is the most underestimated longevity accelerator. Download this sleep optimization workbook to transform sleep into a powerful longevity practice: drshah.com/sleep