Sleep apnea: drug for depression could help
The obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disturbance, which affects almost a billion people worldwide. Researchers from Australia are now reporting that a drugpreviously used to treat depression severity that can reduce OSA.
People with obstructive sleep apnea get – usually without realizing it – bad breath when they sleep Atemaussetzer and are very sleepy during the day, explains the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) on its portal “gesundheitsinformation.de“. In the long run, this increases the risk of other diseases and can impair the quality of life enormously. Researchers from Australia’s Flinders University now report in the journal “Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine“ about a promising drug against OSA.
Significant health effects
According to Message from Flinders University, the study authors point out that while no cure for the sleep disorder has yet been identified, their work opens further avenues for the development of future drug treatments that target the large number of people who currently use sleep apnea therapies not tolerated, such as B. CPAP machines (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure).
“Obstructive sleep apnea can be a debilitating condition that gets worse at night sleep quality and leads to sleepiness during the day”, says the study’s lead author, Dr. Thomas Altree of Flinders University. The sleep disorder has a significant impact on health and productivity.
“Recent research has suggested that a combination of the drugs reboxetine and oxybutynin, both previously used for unrelated conditions, could be an effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, but side effects can cause”explains the scientist.
“We wanted to see if reboxetine might be effective on its own and assess exactly how it might be.” breathing changed during sleep.”
Reducing the severity of sleep apnea
The team conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, multicentre, crossover study in 16 people with OSA in staff at the Woolcock Institute in Sydney. they tested single doses of reboxetine compared to a combination of reboxetine and oxybutynin or a placebo.
“Our results showed that reboxetine alone heaviness that can reduce sleep apnea”so Dr. Altree.
According to the information, the researchers found that the drug reduced the number of sleep apnea events per hour and also the oxygen content improved. The addition of oxybutynin produced no additional improvements.
Important step for future drug development
according to dr Altree, the scientists also have a state-of-the-art Computermethode used to determine how the drug stabilizes breathing during sleep, which helps identify which patients may benefit most from the drug in the future.
The team’s results represent the first evidence that reboxetine alone severity reduced OSA and provide further insight into the role of norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors in upper airway stability during sleep, the release said.
“The current gold standard in treating sleep apnea is using a CPAP machine while you sleep. But this blanket approach doesn’t address the fact that it different causes for sleep apnea. In addition, many people do not tolerate CPAP in the long term”says Dr. Altree.
“It is therefore important that we discover other ways to help people and this study is an important step for the future drug development.“ (ad)
Author and source information
This text corresponds to the specifications of medical specialist literature, medical guidelines and current studies and has been checked by medical professionals.
Sources:
- Flinders University: Promising medication for sleep apnoea, (Abruf: 10.10.2022), Flinders University
- Thomas J. Altree, Atqiya Aishah, Kelly A. Loffler, Ronald R. Grunstein & Danny J. Eckert: The norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor reboxetine alone reduces obstructive sleep apnea severity: a double blind, placebo controlled, randomized, cross-over trial; in: Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, (veröffentlicht: 25.08.2022), Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine
- Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Healthcare: Obstructive sleep apnea, (accessed: October 10, 2022), gesundheitsinformation.de
Important NOTE:
This article contains general advice only and should not be used for self-diagnosis or treatment. He can not substitute a visit at the doctor.