Innovative Approach to Overcoming Sleep Apnea
In a groundbreaking study published in the Journal of Physiology (DOI: 10.1113/JP281912), researchers from the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health at Flinders University and Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) have successfully repurposed two existing medications to reduce the severity of sleep apnoea by at least 30%.
The study, conducted on the medications reboxetine and butylbromide, showed these medications can keep muscles active during sleep and assist breathing, thus reducing the number of times the upper airway from the back of the nose to the throat closes, a common occurrence in sleep apnoea patients.
Sleep apnoea is a condition where the upper airway closes repetitively during sleep, restricting oxygen intake and causing people to wake as often as 100 times or more per hour. This disrupted sleep can lead to a host of health problems, including an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, dementia, and depression.
The study, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC), involved 20 participants with sleep apnoea. Almost everyone in the study had some improvement in sleep apnoea. The authors of the article, "The noradrenergic agent reboxetine plus antimuscarinic hyoscine butylbromide reduces sleep apnoea severity: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised crossover trial," are Edward J. Smith, Alessandra Masini, Johan Verbraecken, and Danny J. Eckert.
The researchers plan to further refine these medications and test their effects over the longer term. They also plan to test whether these treatments can be combined with other existing medications to improve their efficacy. This could potentially lead to a significant breakthrough in the treatment of sleep apnoea, a condition for which there are currently no approved drug therapies.
It's important to note that those with sleep apnoea are two to four times more likely to crash a car than the general population, highlighting the urgent need for effective treatments. The findings of this study offer a promising step forward in addressing this public health issue.
