Daniel Brown

Diagnosed with early stages of suspected pulmonary fibrosis in July 2020. I am 80 years old and continue to remain quite active.  I  walk about two miles/day, ski, sail, exercise regularly at local gym.  Suspected to have sleep apnea, but I question this as I do not have any symptoms of OSA.  I use a CPAP machine at the suggestion of a pulmonologist while sleeping at night. Have  been on this since February 2021.  Have not seen any real benefit from this. I use the CPAP device about 6.5 hours per night.  My AHI (Apnea Hypopnea Index) averages 1.3 since since  starting with CPAP machine. Anything below 5 is considered normal  My score averages about 94/95 out of 100.  My oxygen  levels are on the low side :  92- 95.  these seem to vary every day, sometimes starting at 88 and going to 97.  Heartbeat goes from 62 at rest to 85 with exercise.

Overall I feel quite good, but do find that I do experience shortness of breath when hiking/ going up inclines.  Once I get back to  moving on level ground I no longer have any shortness of breath.  Ten years ago I was hiking to over 18,000 feet in the Himalayas in Nepal and in the Andes of Peru.  I could not come close to reaching these heights today.  Going up inclines is a challenge.  Some of this may be due to the aging process; however, I believe that there is something more than this going on.  Overall my health is good and it has always been so.  I take two medications – Protonix and atorvastatin plus several vitamins.