Drug Therapy for OSA
A new study was reviewed in the trade journal Sleep Review on the use of a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor to treat OSA. These drugs are known to treat mountain sickness by acting as a respiratory stimulant. In a nutshell, they cause the body to retain a slightly elevated amount of CO2, which then causes the brain to react by breathing more forcefully. This change could be measured by breathing rate or breathing volume to produce an increase of “minute ventilation,” i.e. a measurement of the amount of air that enters the lungs per minute.
Presumably, breathing stronger overrides some of the tendency of airway collapsibility. And, in the study, there were significant decreases in breathing events among those with severe OSA.
Clearly, it’s not curative, but it continues to be of great interest that so many new pathways keep emerging to treat OSA, and eventually, a suitable drug therapy is likely to be developed sooner than later, given the multi-billion dollar market for sleep apnea interventions.