Using gentle air pressure to lower blood pressure in autonomic failure

This trial is testing whether continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)—a gentle air pressure device commonly used to treat sleep apnea—can help lower high blood pressure in people with autonomic failure. About half of patients with autonomic failure struggle with very high blood pressure while lying down, which is difficult to treat because the medications that help with other autonomic failure symptoms actually make this problem worse. Researchers want to see if CPAP can safely and effectively lower this type of high blood pressure.

People with autonomic failure face a difficult problem: the medications that help them feel better when standing up actually make their blood pressure dangerously high when lying down, and no good treatment exists for this. This trial is testing whether this medication could offer a new, safe way to manage high blood pressure in this group without making their other symptoms worse.