It only reduces by 4 events per hour. That seems like it might be helpful for someone with mild sleep apnea. But not with moderate or severe sleep apnea.
Adult AHI Severity Levels
Normal: Less than (5) events per hour.
Mild Sleep Apnea: (5) to (14.9) events per hour (frequent minor interruptions).
Moderate Sleep Apnea: (15) to (29.9) events per hour.Severe Sleep Apnea: (30) or more events per hour.
"By mapping the neural circuits that lead to this common condition, work from the Horner lab laid the foundation for AD109, a new treatment developed by researchers in Boston to specifically target the two pathways that contribute to sleep apnea. The daily oral medication contains two drugs: one that increases noradrenaline levels and another that blocks muscarinic receptors.
In a recently published phase 3 randomized clinical trial, people with mild to severe sleep apnea who received AD109 had less airway obstruction and higher oxygen levels than those who received a placebo. On average, per hour of sleep, participants on AD109 had four fewer events where they stopped breathing or had very shallow breathing."
Yeah, I was excited until I read that. Last time I was tested I had 48 events per hour. 4 wouldn't help me much.
They say later in the article that the pill is a good option for folks that can't or won't use the CPAP.
A CPAP is really effective, so it would be first line treatment. If I couldn't use one but needed it, I'd be happy to have fewer events per hour than all of it. Improvement is better than nothing in this case. Besides, a lot of drugs are improved after the initial breakthrough drug - so this gives hope that we might actually be able to be free of the CPAP for many more folks.
CPAP reduces my AHI from 55-60 down to less than 0.5. For people with severe sleep apnea, an 'improvement' of 4 events per hour does absolutely nothing for their health and provides a false sense of security. Their time, money, and energy is much better spent learning how to adapt to CPAP.
My AHI was 151 when measured. The CPAP has changed my life but I do look forward to any possible way to not need it anymore.
Mine was in the 50s when they measured, which seemed bad enough. CPAP takes it down to about 2 to 3.
Oof, and here I thought my AHI of 69 was bad (which it kind of is regardless). My condolences. Glad the CPAP helped, it completely and utterly changed my life too.
256 here :(
the cpap is a wonder, I can't sleep without it. I only wish I'd gotten one 10 years sooner. I have whole years of my life missing from my memory - REM sleep is very important to long-term memory formation.
Using my CPAP now nets me about 1.5 AHI.
if your doctor tells you to get one, get one.