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Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

temertymedicine.utoronto.ca

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Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#61

Post by Aurornis »

gpt5 wrote: post #2

People should be more aware of the symptoms of sleep apneas - the lack of energy during the day, feeling tired, waking up throughout the night, waking up tired/exhausted, etc. People with untreated sleep apnea have multiple folds higher chances to be depressed, unemployed, and have trouble with basic life functions, in addition to the long term health consequences of depriving your brain from Oxygen. I've suggested 4…

This is worth pursuing for anyone with the symptoms.

However please do it with a reputable doctor, preferably associated with an established institution. Watch out for some of the specialty clinics and independent practice doctors who treat apnea like a cash cow.

Sleep study scoring is theoretically set by strict rules, but in practice there can be differences between operators and clinics. Some clinics use this to their advantage to push more treatments and equipment and they’ll do it in ways that are most profitable for themselves. If they can’t get you scored high enough on the first sleep study they’ll pressure you to keep coming back for more studies or in some cases to start paying out of pocket after your insurance company starts refusing so many repeat studies with negative results.

The better clinics are not afraid to tell someone they don’t have apnea or that they likely won’t benefit from PAP machine. They also aren’t shy about telling someone that weight management can be the best long term solution for weight-related cases, whereas some clinics won’t mention it because they want you coming back to them for never ending management.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#62

Post by pmcg »

an0malous wrote: post #42
pmcg wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar experience, with a slightly different approach (mouth tape and a nose dilator) but seemingly similar outcome. I like that you did it just through exercises with no mechanical intervention. Inspiring.

Thank you! I saw you mentioned mewing in your comment, they teach you that in some pranayama exercises as well and I agree it’s a great addition. It feels unnatural at first but when you get used to it, it’s almost like bracing your palate with your tongue allows you to pull air in through your nose more smoothly and with more power. I’ve found this is all really worth learning, even if you don’t have sleep apnea. I…

That's fascinating, I just did some reading on this - I had not known that the basic technique of "mewing" is very similar if not identical to something that's been practiced in yoga for thousands of years. That in itself doesn't speak to its effectiveness necessarily but on the surface it's a different way to look at it than as just a modern fad.

Regardless, it doesn't cost anything to try, seems no danger in it and it seems logical that it could help.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#63

Post by moojacob »

If you wake up every day feeling like you got hit by a train and also have anxiety, depression, chronic heartburn, or exhaustion (not sleepiness, like a wired but tired) I would highly recommend looking into Upper Airway Respiratory Syndrome (UARS).

UARS was coined by Dr. Christian Guilleminault who was on the team that coined sleep apnea. Over his career he slowly widened his definition of sleep disordered breathing from choking (sleep apnea) to any nasal resistance that causes wake ups.

You be young and perfectly healthy but due to bad anatomy have micro arousals throughout the night. Becuase your young, your body fights through it (cuasing exhuastion) and will wake up up to readjust your airway. You won't remeber any of the wakeups, but many suffer from insomnia from it. The two big issues is large tongue in underdeveloped jaw that falls back and constricts your airway (you can test this with a mallamapati test) or a small nasal passage way.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#64

Post by [deleted] »

procone wrote: post #49
an0malous wrote: post #29

I went through the whole process of seeing an ENT, using the machine for the at-home sleep study so insurance would give me a CPAP, then not being able to sleep with a CPAP, and over the course of a couple years I fixed my sleep apnea by fixing my posture and breathing. If you have forward head posture or are not used to breathing through your nose, you might also benefit from this. I think it’s kind of crazy that we…

What a ridiculous post. Please leave the Reddit pseudoscience at the door. There are researchers actively working and studying people with sleep apnea. They're not suffering from "forward head posture" or "breathing wrong". I have severe sleep apnea and no amount of "breathing exercises" are going to cause my soft palate to uncollapse itself while I'm trying to get REM sleep.

[deleted]

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#65

Post by pmcg »

jfengel wrote: post #43
an0malous wrote: post #29

I went through the whole process of seeing an ENT, using the machine for the at-home sleep study so insurance would give me a CPAP, then not being able to sleep with a CPAP, and over the course of a couple years I fixed my sleep apnea by fixing my posture and breathing. If you have forward head posture or are not used to breathing through your nose, you might also benefit from this. I think it’s kind of crazy that we…

Nestor's book didn't feel right. I don't think he's a crank, or that he's entirely wrong, but the idea that we're breathing wrong feels really unlikely. You don't have to be taught to breathe. I'm sure that many of the lessons in the book are applicable and there is much to learn. But a lot of it felt like woo, even though I know full well that the author is a well-respected journalist. I'd really like to hear a soun…

I haven't read his book, so I don't know how much of a kook or grifter I would judge this guy to be, and I'm always dubious about things, but I try to remember that even kooks and grifters sometimes (not always!) have genuinely useful things in what they're saying. They might not be the best person to say it, and their suggestions might not always be the best way to make use of the useful bits. But just because someone is trying to make money from spreading their message doesn't make it all BS.

(I think I'm mostly agreeing with you.)

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#66

Post by krackers »

pmcg wrote: post #62
an0malous wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you! I saw you mentioned mewing in your comment, they teach you that in some pranayama exercises as well and I agree it’s a great addition. It feels unnatural at first but when you get used to it, it’s almost like bracing your palate with your tongue allows you to pull air in through your nose more smoothly and with more power. I’ve found this is all really worth learning, even if you don’t have sleep apnea. I…

That's fascinating, I just did some reading on this - I had not known that the basic technique of "mewing" is very similar if not identical to something that's been practiced in yoga for thousands of years. That in itself doesn't speak to its effectiveness necessarily but on the surface it's a different way to look at it than as just a modern fad. Regardless, it doesn't cost anything to try, seems no danger in it and…

>basic technique of "mewing" is very similar if not identical to something that's been practiced in yoga for thousands of years

Can you elaborate more on this? I also assume by "mewing" you mean putting the tip of your tongue on your hard palette right behind your upper incisor, and letting the rest of the tongue suction against the hard (and soft) palette. Surprisingly for something that seems to be so "popular" in "broscience" I find it hard to find any canonical definition or technique.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#67

Post by krackers »

procone wrote: post #51
chubot wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup totally, how you breathe during the day is a habit that basically persists at night So breathing better during the day can be trained, even at an old age, and it improves sleep Not everyone breathes suboptimally of course, but I think more do than realize it. There’s a reason that breath work is in the traditions of many different cultures, and why it survived But things like this aren’t necessarily profitable or…

Oh you don't say? I'm genuinely curious to know what you reduced your AHI to with these exercises. Or are you just making things up? Yeah we'll go with fabrications based solely on this sentence "But things like this aren’t necessarily profitable or worth a doctor’s time, so you have to do them yourself, or see therapists, etc"

I thought one of the main issues is that during sleep you lose muscle tone and control, so no matter how much you do myofacial therapy while awake it doesn't really matter much in preventing your tongue from falling back when asleep.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#68

Post by nubinetwork »

adamtulinius wrote: post #21

I wake up without my cpap mask after a few hours every night. In total I might get 6 hours with it after putting it on multiple times. Doctors think I’m doing fine due to total amount of hours used, and my resmed cpap claims I’m at below 1 event/hour. I’m not doing fine and I think the numbers are lying to me. I snore a million, my mouth gets dry, and my nose tightens up, so my nasal mask isn’t always that nice to us…

Find a mask that doesn't have snap magnets to hold it to your head... if you make it harder to take off, you might wake up and catch yourself taking it off.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#69

Post by 0xack »

procone wrote: post #49
an0malous wrote: post #29

I went through the whole process of seeing an ENT, using the machine for the at-home sleep study so insurance would give me a CPAP, then not being able to sleep with a CPAP, and over the course of a couple years I fixed my sleep apnea by fixing my posture and breathing. If you have forward head posture or are not used to breathing through your nose, you might also benefit from this. I think it’s kind of crazy that we…

What a ridiculous post. Please leave the Reddit pseudoscience at the door. There are researchers actively working and studying people with sleep apnea. They're not suffering from "forward head posture" or "breathing wrong". I have severe sleep apnea and no amount of "breathing exercises" are going to cause my soft palate to uncollapse itself while I'm trying to get REM sleep.

Its been established head posture is a factor. It’s also intuitive - the posture of your head affects the angle of your airway. This is why some patients wear cervical braces to sleep.

Re: Sleep research led to a new sleep apnea drug

#70

Post by 0xack »

adamtulinius wrote: post #33
wincy wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously I don’t know you or your specific situation, but I lost 120 pounds taking Zepbound and my apnea is gone. I make sure to take fluticasone in each nostril before I sleep, but getting to a healthy weight eliminated my apnea. If you aren’t overweight, this might not help, but hopefully it’ll help someone!

I’m 130 kg and know it’s way too much. Hard to gather the energy for loosing weight. Can you take fluticasone permanently? Sometimes it’s like I just lie down and my nasal congestion gets worse instantly

This is suppose to be a tell tale sign of deviated septum (lying down and losing airflow).
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