“If there was a pill for sleep apnea that was safe and effective, I think everybody would try it,” says Luigi Taranto Montemurro, a pulmonologist and sleep medicine doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.Ī continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine helps sleepers breathe normally, but many people resist using one.ĬREDIT: HILARY MORGAN / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO It won’t be a one-size-fits-all cure, but it would be better than what’s currently available on the pharmacy shelf for apnea sufferers: drugs that do little more than boost alertness to overcome the grogginess that comes from not getting enough quality sleep. With this new knowledge, there’s a real possibility that some of the billion or so people across the world who suffer from the sleep disorder may soon be able to take medications instead of having to rely on cumbersome devices. Sleep apnea, clinicians are learning, has not just one cause, but several - and drugs exist that can target most of them. Soon he might not have to, if some of the latest research findings bear out. “I won’t go to bed looking like Dracula,” he told me.

In spite of persistent urging from his daughter, a physician, my father-in-law didn’t see the point because the only treatment proven to reverse the breathing problems responsible for sleep apnea is a ventilator called a CPAP machine - and he was adamantly opposed to strapping a mask to his face and wearing bulky headgear while he snoozed. And, if you can’t join us live, please register and we’ll send a link to the replay following the event. Join us for a discussion and Q&A with two experts, and get your questions answered. What happens during normal sleep and when sleep is disrupted? What factors contribute to disparities in sleep health and how can they be remedied? And how can we all practice good sleep hygiene? Learn how slumber affects the body on a physiological level, and the implications for disease risk. A good night’s sleep is a luxury for many, but poor people and members of racial and ethnic minorities are more likely than others to not get enough.

Sleep is critically important for health: If disrupted, it can literally make people sick, upping the risks for ills such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and depression.

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