Researchers reduced the severity of sleep apnea by at least 30%

A new study published in The Journal of Physiology shows that researchers have successfully reused two existing drugs to reduce the severity of sleep apnea by at least 30%

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Those who are not treated for sleep apnea are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease, dementia, and depression, and are two to four times more likely to have a crash

Despite nearly 30 years of research, there is no approved drug therapy to treat this disease

Flinders University (Flinders University) Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health (Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health) Professor and Director, Nervous System Research Institute (NeuRA) Chief Research Scientist Professor Danny Eckert (Danny Eckert) passed Reusing the two existing drugs and testing their efficacy on patients with sleep apnea has brought scientists one step closer to success

Previous studies have shown that reboxetine and butyl bromide can help people without sleep apnea to keep their muscles active during sleep and help them breathe

By changing the use of the drug, the researchers used a large number of recording instruments to measure whether reboxetine and butyl bromide can successfully target the main cause of sleep apnea

This includes balancing the electrical activity of the muscles around the airways, preventing people from collapsing their throats while sleeping, and improving the regulation of carbon dioxide and breathing during sleep

The results of the study showed that these drugs did increase muscle activity around the participants’ airways and reduced the severity of sleep apnea in participants by a third

Almost all the people in our study have improved sleep apnea

These new discoveries enable researchers to further refine these types of drugs, making them more beneficial than currently discovered

Professor Eckert commented on the study:

He said: "We are very excited, because the current treatment of sleep apnea is limited, which may be a painful process for many people

He continued: "Similarly, we will test whether these treatments can be combined with other existing drugs and see if we can further improve their efficacy

So far, the main method of treating sleep apnea is to wear a mask to sleep, or continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP), which benefits millions of people

In addition, the effectiveness of second-line therapies, such as mouthguards installed by dentists, can be unpredictable and expensive

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