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Snoring pill trials give hope to disrupted sleep
15 Apr 2008
Researchers have started trials for a pill that could help to control a common condition that causes snoring in millions of people around Europe.
Scientists believe the pill, currently only known by the code name BGC20-0166, could aid the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSA) if taken daily.
OSA causes people to stop breathing intermittently during sleep and often leads to heavy snoring as well as feelings of tiredness and irritability.
Occurring when the sufferer's upper airway narrows as the muscles relax during sleep, it reduces oxygen in the blood, causing disrupted sleep.
In a trial of 39 patients, people were given either one or two doses of BGC20-0166 daily for 28 days; one of the two drugs that make up the new compound; or a dummy pill.
Scientists measured the results using the apnoea-hypopnea index - which monitors the frequency and severity of breathing pauses through the night - after two weeks and four weeks.
Patients taking the pill demonstrated a 40 per cent reduction in symptoms associated with OSA, while three out of ten patients showed a 50 per cent reduction in their symptoms.
"The results from this trial demonstrate the potential of this pharmacotherapy to decrease sleep apnoea in some patients and to normalise it in others," said Thomas Roth, advisor to BTG, the life sciences company behind the development of the drug.
He also stressed that further research was needed to "define the role" of the pill in managing OSA.
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