New Hope For A Better Night Sleep
* Thursday January 15, 2009, 4:35 am EST
Related:
* Cortex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Greek word “apnea” literally means “without breath.” Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder characterized by short pauses in breath during sleep. Each episode lasts long enough so that several breaths are missed, with such episodes occurring repeatedly throughout sleep.
There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; with obstructive being the most common. Despite differences in the root cause of each type, those suffering from sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night, and often for a minute or longer.
Sleep apnea is a surprisingly common condition: according to the National Institutes of Health, the disorder affects more than twelve million Americans, making it as common as adult diabetes.
Certain factors increase the risk of sleep apnea, such as being male, overweight, and over the age of forty, but sleep apnea can strike anyone at any age, including children. The vast majority of sufferers go undiagnosed and untreated. Untreated, sleep apnea can lead to high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases, memory problems, weight gain and diabetes, impotence, and headaches.
A special consideration for sufferers of sleep apnea concerns the use of anesthetic agents during surgery and narcotic analgesics (pain relievers) after surgery. Many drugs and agents used during or after surgery to relieve pain and to depress consciousness remain in the body at low amounts for hours or even days afterwards.
Researchers at the University of Alberta and Cortex Pharmaceuticals, a neuroscience company based in Irvine, California, believe that a novel class of molecules known as AMPAKINE compounds may provide protection from drug-induced respiratory depression, while simultaneously allowing the sedative or analgesic to continue working as it was intended.
AMPAKINE compounds act on the most common excitatory receptor in the brain, the AMPA-type glutamate receptor. Dr. John J. Greer of the University of Alberta demonstrated that certain AMPAKINE compounds stimulate primitive areas of the brain called the pre-Botzinger Complex that controls breathing, without causing side effects.
In animal models, AMPAKINE compounds were shown to enhance the respiratory drive and breathing rhythm in laboratory rats whose respiration rates were purposely suppressed by administration of central nervous system depressants.
AMPAKINES could one day allow for improved safety and a more effective use of opiate analgesics and barbiturate sedatives, two important classes of central nervous system drugs. For more information, visit www.cortexpharma.com.
Contact:
IRG
Janet Vasquez, 212-825-3210 |
