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."

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MetallicCloud 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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.

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Broken_Hippo 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

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.

	▲	deepspace an hour ago \| parent [-]
		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.

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Waterluvian 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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.

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UncleOxidant 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Mine was in the 50s when they measured, which seemed bad enough. CPAP takes it down to about 2 to 3.

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folkrav 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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.

	▲	LooseMarmoset 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		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.