It only reduces by 4 events per hour. That seems like it might be helpful for someone with mild sleep apnea. But not with moderate or severe sleep apnea.
Adult AHI Severity Levels
Normal: Less than (5) events per hour.
Mild Sleep Apnea: (5) to (14.9) events per hour (frequent minor interruptions).
Moderate Sleep Apnea: (15) to (29.9) events per hour.Severe Sleep Apnea: (30) or more events per hour.
"By mapping the neural circuits that lead to this common condition, work from the Horner lab laid the foundation for AD109, a new treatment developed by researchers in Boston to specifically target the two pathways that contribute to sleep apnea. The daily oral medication contains two drugs: one that increases noradrenaline levels and another that blocks muscarinic receptors.
In a recently published phase 3 randomized clinical trial, people with mild to severe sleep apnea who received AD109 had less airway obstruction and higher oxygen levels than those who received a placebo. On average, per hour of sleep, participants on AD109 had four fewer events where they stopped breathing or had very shallow breathing."
They say later in the article that the pill is a good option for folks that can't or won't use the CPAP.
A CPAP is really effective, so it would be first line treatment. If I couldn't use one but needed it, I'd be happy to have fewer events per hour than all of it. Improvement is better than nothing in this case. Besides, a lot of drugs are improved after the initial breakthrough drug - so this gives hope that we might actually be able to be free of the CPAP for many more folks.
CPAP reduces my AHI from 55-60 down to less than 0.5. For people with severe sleep apnea, an 'improvement' of 4 events per hour does absolutely nothing for their health and provides a false sense of security. Their time, money, and energy is much better spent learning how to adapt to CPAP.
Oof, and here I thought my AHI of 69 was bad (which it kind of is regardless). My condolences. Glad the CPAP helped, it completely and utterly changed my life too.
the cpap is a wonder, I can't sleep without it. I only wish I'd gotten one 10 years sooner. I have whole years of my life missing from my memory - REM sleep is very important to long-term memory formation.
Ouch! I'm under 3. It follows me everywhere too. Early on, I kept trying leave without it when sleeping out for one night. All it achieved was having to catch up on sleep for the next few days. Nowadays I use it even when taking a short nap.
Adult AHI Severity Levels
Normal: Less than (5) events per hour.
Mild Sleep Apnea: (5) to (14.9) events per hour (frequent minor interruptions).
Moderate Sleep Apnea: (15) to (29.9) events per hour.Severe Sleep Apnea: (30) or more events per hour.
"By mapping the neural circuits that lead to this common condition, work from the Horner lab laid the foundation for AD109, a new treatment developed by researchers in Boston to specifically target the two pathways that contribute to sleep apnea. The daily oral medication contains two drugs: one that increases noradrenaline levels and another that blocks muscarinic receptors.
In a recently published phase 3 randomized clinical trial, people with mild to severe sleep apnea who received AD109 had less airway obstruction and higher oxygen levels than those who received a placebo. On average, per hour of sleep, participants on AD109 had four fewer events where they stopped breathing or had very shallow breathing."