Study Identifies First Drug Therapy for Sleep Apnea

UC San Diego ^ | June 21, 2024 | Atul Malhotra, MD

[Red Badger]

https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa2404881

https://newatlas.com/medical/sleep-apnea-drug-obesity/

[nickcarraway]

Interesting.

[mmichaels1970]

The impact of tirzepatide was evaluated over 52 weeks.

Researchers found that tirzepatide led to a significant decrease in the number of breathing interruptions during sleep

I wonder how they measured this over 52 weeks. Did they just turn a cpap down to near 0 and measure events? Or did the test subjects have to wire themselves up with those 20 or so colored wires that you do during a sleep test?

[jimtorr]

There is also a smaller, less intrusive device that can be used at home. It still has lots of wires, though.

[woodbutcher1963]

I did a sleep study at home over Memorial Day weekend.

I wore a monitor on my left wrist with cap that fit over my little finger and a wire leading to my . It kept track of vitals.

It also had a monitor that I applied to the skin/bone at the base of my neck. It picked up the vibrations when I was snoring.

[woodbutcher1963]

I was diagnosed with sleep apnea after I did that study.
I have an appointment in July where they are going to recommend treatment.

My question to ALL of you is have any of you tried the mouth guards either advertised on the internet/Facebook OR had one made by your dentist?

FYI, my dentist was the person who diagnosed me based on grinding my teeth and me telling him I snore like a freight train. According to my wife/son.

[FamiliarFace]

There’s a little ring out there now that can measure all sorts of information when it’s worn. Called an Oura ring. On the pricy side but maybe can use an HSA
/FSA to pay for it.

https://ouraring.com/

[FamiliarFace]

Hubby uses a mouth guard at night for grinding his teeth. He’s gotten a thinner one more recently that he likes much better. He rarely snores, and doesn’t have sleep apnea, nor is he overweight. He does wear an Oura ring to measure how good his sleep is.

I don’t need a ring to tell me that info. I know when I wake up each morning if I got into a good REM cycle during the night.

[lee martell]

I use a mouthguard, but I don’t know if it stops me from snoring. I use it due to my bruxism (tooth grinding), especially with the molars, my most valuable teeth, helping to crush and pulverize foods before I swallow.

I have health ins. but it does not cover a physician level mouthguard. So, I will shop at Sporting stores, such as Big 5, and buy a few of the mouth guards they sell to boxers or other athletes. Physician Level Mouthguard = $450 of more!
Big 5 retail mouthguard = $8 to $10.

[woodbutcher1963]

I have a mouth guard for my top teeth. It was made by my previous dentist to keep me from grinding my bottom front teeth into my top front teeth.

The I switched dentists. Brought in the mouth guard. The new dentist asks me IF I have ever been tested for sleep apnea?
I asked why. He asks me IF I snore. Yes, why? he responds that people who grind their teeth and snore typically(75% of the time) also have sleep apnea. He then advised I get tested.

There are mouth guards that go on your top AND bottom teeth. They are connected so it pushes your bottom teeth out so that your airway remains open.

The grinding of your teeth in my case is a symptom of my body/mouth trying to keep my airway open when I am sleeping.

[Tuxedo]

I use CPAP and am on Mounjaro 10mg now (just upped from 7.5). Lost about 35 pounds or so in a year. Had CPAP since 2008. Would love to go off it, but I feel kind of dependent on it. Very difficult to fall asleep without it.

[catnipman]

tirzepatide is a WEIGH LOSS drug and has zero direct affect on apnea or sleep ... ANY medication, medical procedure or lifestyle improvement that assisted weight loss would have exactly the same result as tirzepatide: reduced need for CPAP and improved sleep ...

somehow big pharma managed to get both the medical media and the consumer media to go along with their ridiculous and grossly misleading nonsense about this WEIGHT LOSS drug ...

[mmichaels1970]

It also had a monitor that I applied to the skin/bone at the base of my neck. It picked up the vibrations when I was snoring.

I just redid mine about three weeks ago at a hotel that the hospital used. Still tethered to about a doze wires with those patch thingies glued to my head.

[mmichaels1970]

My question to ALL of you is have any of you tried the mouth guards either advertised on the internet/Facebook OR had one made by your dentist?

I haven't. But I don't mind my CPAP. I just got prescribed something I think thas is called a BIPAP. From what I understand it's basically a CPAP but with variable air pressure depending on what it determines you need at the time. A plain ol CPAP just pumps the prescribed pressure of air into your nose all night. Where this one may go lower or higher.

[mmichaels1970]

but I feel kind of dependent on it. Very difficult to fall asleep without it.

Same here. My body just doesn't go into "sleep mode" until I've got it hooked up.

[jimtorr]

I have a ResMed Airiset 10 “Autoset” cpap machine. It seems to be a CPAP with some of the functionality of a BIPAP. My breathing doc said it is the gold standard or CPAP machines.

At first my machine used constant pressure. When I returned for a follow-up visit with the doc, I complained that my lungs (diaphragm, I suppose) felt tired all the time, making it uncomfortable and more difficult to use the machine.

He changed the settings to that the machine could sense when I was exhaling, and reduce the pressure until I stopped breathing out. I felt the difference that night.

Now, I do not want to sleep without CPAP. I have clogged sinuses frequently, and the machine helps me to breath through the stoppage.

[ConservativeMind]

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[NetAddicted]

Read later.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

I use a competitive ring call “O2 Ring” by a Chinese company Wellue. It’s available on Amazon. I’ve got about three years of data in addition to the data from the CPAP machine. The OSCAR software merges the data from the CPAP with the SpO2 and pulse data from the ring. I highly recommend O2 Ring. Just don’t leave it where your puppy can get it ;>)

This Tirzepatide could be real promising — maybe in conjunction with CPAP for optimal results.