Shopping For Sleep? Miracle Pill May Provide the Solution

A miracle pill may be on the horizon to help sleep apnea victims. The pill could offer the solution to a good night's rest for both the sleep apnea patient and their sleep deprived partners. If this pill proves to be as successful in future studies as it has been in a recent six-month study it will become the "holy grail of snoring therapy."

According to Pat Hagan, writing in MailOnline, "the once-a-day pill slashed snoring rates by almost 70 per cent in a small U.S. trial." Approximately three million people are affected by sleep apnea in Britain. The U.S. has approximately thirty million victims. During an Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) episode the throat actually closes and air passage to the lungs is blocked. These episodes can last anywhere from ten seconds to two minutes. The victim's life is saved by waking up. The brain, realizing that breathing has stopped, sends a signal for airway muscles to contract again, opening the airway and waking the victim "with a jolt and a snore." This death defying cycle can occur hundreds of times a night.

The result of these frequent interruptions of sleep for both the victim and his partner is severe sleep deprivation. The usual symptoms then appear during the day: tired and exhausted feelings, confusion, depression and irritability, reduced sex drive, heartburn, headaches, high blood pressure, and possibly christian mysticism churches  problems. The consequences of these symptoms can result in heart attack, stroke, or fatal accidents.

"The new drug, called Qnexa, was developed as a weightloss medicine. It contains a mixture of a stimulant drug called phentermine and an anti-epilepsy drug called topiramate. Researchers noticed an added benefit when they tested volunteers to measure the effects on sleep apnea. Over the course of the trial, which involved men and women aged 30 to 65, the number of times their sleep was disrupted by snoring-related problems dropped from an average of 46 times an hour to just 14. At the same time, they lost an average of 10 per cent of their body weight and saw a significant drop in blood pressure. Vivus Inc, the California drug firm that developed Qnexa, says it hopes to get it licensed to treat sleep apnea."
The 70% cut in snoring rates looks very promising. More extensive testing is being done as we speak. Qnexa may be the next miracle drug to help millions of people get the "good night's rest" we all deserve