approved<\/a> Zepbound (tirzepatide) for moderate to severe OSA in adults with obesity\u2014the first weight-loss drug to carry a specific sleep apnea indication.<\/p>\nMeanwhile, Cambridge, Massachusetts\u2013based startup Apnimed has developed a nightly pill targeting neuromuscular pathways that influence upper airway tone. Rather than mechanically splinting the airway open, the drug aims to stabilize it biologically.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a long time, OSA was understood primarily as an anatomical problem, so the logical solution was mechanical,\u201d says John Cronin, chief medical officer at Apnimed. As understanding evolved, the question became: \u201cCould we design a therapy that targets the biology of the condition directly, rather than relying solely on mechanical support?\u201d The company has completed two phase three trials and plans to submit a New Drug Application to the FDA this year.<\/p>\n
For all the innovation, Steier remains pragmatic. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be happier than finding someone who\u2019s got typical sleep apnea and gets CPAP therapy,\u201d he says. Modern machines automatically adjust pressure to airway resistance. \u201cA single night can make all the difference.\u201d Patients return re-energized, telling him they\u2019ve got their lives back.<\/p>\n
Sleep medicine is still relatively young, and research is only beginning to capture the diversity of the condition. That complexity also underpins efforts to improve CPAP use rather than abandon it.<\/p>\n
Amanda Sathyapala, an associate professor at Imperial College London\u2019s National Heart and Lung Institute, led the research showing 62 percent of patients were not using CPAP enough to make a meaningful health impact. Her team has studied the psychology of adherence, finding that factors such as understanding risk and confidence using the device shape long-term use.<\/p>\n
Drawing on behavioral science, she developed CPAP Buddy, an app offering video-based behavioral therapy, peer support, and round-the-clock answers to patient questions. The project has received \u00a32.2 million from the UK\u2019s Medical Research Council, alongside backing from CPAP manufacturer Fisher & Paykel.<\/p>\n
\u201cCPAP is likely to be the most effective treatment that you can get because it’s giving air directly into the airway,\u201d Sathyapala says. \u201c[CPAP] is always going to be the most efficacious once the person’s using it, therefore it’s worth trying to get people to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For her, the problem is not the machine but behavior. \u201cI don’t like to give up if we haven’t tried the right things,\u201d she says. Using CPAP, she adds, is no different from \u201closing weight, stopping smoking, starting up a long-term physical activity program\u2014it’s a behavior change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inspire therapy\u2014a hypoglossal nerve stimulation implant\u2014has been FDA-approved for more than 11 years, with over 100,000 patients treated…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":647701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[210,1141,1142,1184,1079,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-647700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-medicine","12":"tag-sleep","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116209916951872576","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/647701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}