United States: Millions of Americans struggle with sleep deficits caused by sleep apnea, often relying on constant positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines and also there are very few treatments available. However, researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia may be on the brink of developing new, less cumbersome therapies for the condition.
Their team has identified specific brain chemicals in mice that connect sleep apnea with one of its serious side effects, high blood pressure. This breakthrough could pave the good hands for innovative treatments that address sleep apnea more effectively and with greater ease.
“Ultimate Goal”
“Our ultimate goal is to eventually help clinicians develop specific drugs to target either these neurochemicals or the proteins they bind to in a way that reduces high blood pressure,” explained senior study author David Kline, an investigator at the university’s Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center.
Research Insights:
As reported by HealthDay, Study which was led by the postdoctoral researcher Procopio Gama de Barcellos Filho which involved mice whose brains were subjected to a low-oxygen state which is similar to what the humans experience and when they periodically stop breathing due to the problem of sleep apnea.
However they are analysing the rodents ‘neurochemistry, Filho and Kline noticed the key changes when in this hypoxic state.
Experts Analysis:
Oxygen levels in the blood drop during the sleep apnea also the forebrain sends the warning signals to the brainstem area that controls heart and the functions of the lungs,” Kline explained.
If this kind of brain activity is pursued for a long time, then there are some chances it can trigger high blood pressure, said Kline, and with all its attendant health issues such as strokes.
There are more statements by Kline as he said that people not only with sleep apnea often have high blood pressure but they also lose a a lot of sleep and they have more chances of memory loss and prone to the injuries at work because of sleepiness.