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Sleep apnea pill shows striking success in large clinical trial

Drug combination targeting lax airways is nearing an FDA submission. For people who wear a cumbersome mask to bed to avoid the life-threatening, long-term effects of a serious breathing disease, the prospect of shedding the headgear for a single pill taken at bedtime has been the stuff of dreams. Now, those dreams appear likely to become reality for at least some people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), who stop breathing dozens or hundreds of times during the night, causing their blood oxygen to drop before they subconsciously awake. Top-line results from a large clinical trial, released this week, showed a combination of two medications in one pill stimulates muscles that keep the airway…

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 A New Option to Treat Sleep Apnea: Weight-Loss Drugs

New research showed that tirzepatide, the compound in Zepbound, improved symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea.

 Advancing Obstructive Sleep Apnea Management: Recent Trends from Conventional to Innovative Therapies

. Conventional modalities such as oral appliances, surgery, weight reduction, and positional therapy provide clinical benefits but have variable efficacy and tolerability. Recent advances highlight innovative strategies, including hypoglossal nerve stimulation (HGNS), anti-obesity pharmacotherapy with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, and upper airway muscle–targeted agents, which exemplify precision medicine approaches tailored to individual OSA phenotypes.

 For Sleep Apnea Patients, a Possible Alternative to Masks

The standard treatment for people with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea is a mask worn at night that helps them breathe without interruption. The mask is unwieldy and uncomfortable, however; one study found that 46 percent to 83 percent of patients with obstructive sleep apnea do not wear it diligently. Now scientists may have found an alternative, at least for some patients: a pacemaker-like device implanted in the chest that stimulates a nerve in the jaw...

 Sleep Apnea Treatment Unmasked

The vast majority of people who have sleep apnea do not receive any treatment. This respiratory disorder, which affects nearly 24 million Americans, disrupts breathing and oxygen as a person sleeps. Airflow restrictions cause people with sleep apnea to snore and choke. (Sometimes these are the only clues they have apnea.) The disturbances can quickly add up, reaching as many as 20 to 30 each hour.

Articles of Interest

Mouth-taping to treat sleep apnoea – here are the risks

A recent study showed that mouth taping, as mimicked by closing the mouth in people with sleep apnoea, may not be the cure-all that many had hoped for. Although it increased airflow in some participants, it reduced it in others. So mouth taping is certainly not a one-size-fits-all solution. A few other studies on mouth taping have shown that it can offer some benefit. However, these, like the more recent study, usually contain few participants and tend to only include those with mild sleep apnoea. Another problem with mouth taping is that some people end up exhaling out the side of their mouth where there is no tape – so-called “mouth puffing”. This can lead to insufficient oxygen in the blood and potentially too much carbon dioxide, which can cause the body to go into a stressed state.

Startups Seek New Treatments for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Somnair, backed with seed financing, is one of several companies advancing alternatives to CPAP for sleep disorder.

Treatments for obstructive sleep apnea: CPAP and beyond

Treatment options for obstructive sleep apnea include positive airway pressure and alternatives such as behavioral interventions, oral appliances, nasal expiratory positive airway pressure, negative pressure interventions, and surgical procedures. Certain drugs are also promising.

A Pill for Sleep Apnea Could Be on the Horizon

Experts say that if the new drug gets approved, it may lead to a big shift in how we treat the condition.

Beyond CPAP: Other options for sleep apnea

If you have tried lifestyle measures or CPAP for a few months and you are still having problems with sleep apnea, you may want to consider one of these procedures to remove excess tissue so that it no longer blocks your throat:

Conch blowing could help to alleviate sleep apnoea, study suggests

Blowing into a conch shell could help tackle the symptoms of a sleep disorder that affects millions of people across the UK, according to a study. Conch blowing, also known as shankh blowing, is an ancient ritual that involves breathing in deeply and exhaling into the spiral-shaped shell. The practice could improve sleep for patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), which usually needs to be treated with uncomfortable machinery, according to the research.

Could Treating Sleep Apnea Be as Simple as Changing Positions?

Most people think treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) only involves devices such as a PAP machine or oral devices. But for some, treatment may be far simpler, with less investment in time and patience: positional therapy.

New tongue-stimulating implant offers hope to millions with sleep apnoea in UK first

Nyxoah’s Genio device zaps the nerves in the tongue to help sufferers breathe better overnight

Simple, fast, wide-awake diagnosis of sleep apnea could enable better surgical care and improve sleep

One reason why there are so many undiagnosed and untreated OSA cases is that accurate diagnosis usually requires an expensive, labour-intensive overnight sleep study called polysomnography (PSG). But new technology developed at the University of Manitoba can tell patients if they have OSA in 30 seconds, just by analysis of their breathing sounds while they are wide awake.

Sleep Apnea Alternatives, Minus the CPAP Mask

Sleep apnea patients may soon have several new treatments to choose from. Not one involves an annoying face mask. Implants, nasal attachments and other substitutes for the most common treatment.

Sleep apnea pill shows striking success in large clinical trial

Drug combination targeting lax airways is nearing an FDA submission.

Suffering From Sleep Apnea? Try Blowing Into a Conch Shell Almost Daily, New Study Suggests

Researchers say the practice might provide a simpler and low-cost alternative to the standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, though trials with more participants are needed.

The Nasal Spray Offering New Hope To Sleepless Wives Everywhere

If you go to sleep with the sound of a freight train hooting next to you, have no fear, relief is on the way. A new product hopes to treat the severity of sleep apnea (and the resulting snoring) with a dedicated sleep apnea spray. The nasal spray is a much simpler option compared to the current treatment, which is a bulky, loud CPAP machine.

We Beat Sleep Apnea. It Should Be Easier for You to Do It, Too.

The consequences of ignoring the condition can be severe, but the health system puts up barriers to treatment.

What to Do if You Have Sleep Apnea

CPAP machines, Sullivan soon learned, have their limits. “Many people can’t use them,” he says. “There’s a lot of individuality with sleep apnea.” Advances are helping people use CPAP more effectively and providing alternatives. Here are the most promising approaches, according to experts.

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