Recent quotes:

Cannabinoid May Be First Drug for Sleep Apnea

"Based on a series of animal investigations, we proposed that drugs which dampen afferent vagal feedback to the medulla may be effective in stabilizing respiratory pattern generation and increasing activation of upper airway dilating muscles during sleep," the authors note. Dr Zee added that larger studies will be necessary to shed more light on dronabinol's specific clinical applications in sleep apnea. "Due to the phase 2 study, it would be premature to comment on how the compound will be used in clinical settings. Larger studies that can be generalized to the obstructive sleep apnea population are needed. It could conceivably be used in patients who fail CPAP, [and] other approved therapies, such as oral appliances or as adjunctive therapy," she said.

Cannabinoid May Be First Drug for Sleep Apnea

The primary endpoint was change from baseline in AHI after 6 weeks of treatment. The study showed significant improvements in the 2.5-mg group, with a reduction of 10.5 events per hour (P = .02), and in the 10-mg group, with a reduction of 12.9 events per hour (P = .004), in rapid eye movement (REM) as well as non-REM sleep, after adjustment for factors including age, race, ethnicity, and baseline AHI. No significant changes were observed in the placebo group after adjustment, and the differences in improvement between the 2.5- and 10-mg groups were not statistically significant.