United States: Sleep apnea has been a chronic bother to roughly 30 million people in the US, and a new solution to this problem is being developed.
More about the news
A new breathing apparatus designed in a Finnish study maintained that it could help minimize the recurrence of the disorder’s symptoms.
The equipment known as WellO2 enhances the throat muscles through resistance training to strengthen the throat muscles of the trainer and steaming breath to humidify the Airways, as Fox News reported.
How was the study conducted?
Twenty-five patients with mild to moderate sleep apnea identified in the small study conducted by the University of Turku’s Sleep Research Center wore the device at home twice daily for three months, inhaling and exhaling at a rate of 30 cycles per session.
The findings further revealed that the participants had significantly enhanced respiratory muscle strength and a reduction in their estimated average number of breathing breakdowns at night, in addition to enhancement in sleep quality and reduction in insomnia symptoms as measured during the study period, as stated in the press release.
Moreover, the results also showed that occurrences of snoring also decreased.
The results were presented on June 5 at the Nordic Lung Congress 2024, taking place in Helsinki, Finland. The study will now be peer-reviewed by the Scientific Congress and then will be published later this year, the researchers stated, as Fox News reported.
What more have the experts stated?
According to Dr. Usame Al-Rammahi, the lead author and a doctoral researcher of pulmonary diseases and clinical allergology at the University of Turku, “Currently, there are no available technologies or medications to treat sleep apnea,” as Fox News reported.
Moreover, “Our first data suggest that respiratory muscle training may be the answer that not only alleviates symptoms but also addresses the underlying cause of OSA by strengthening muscles” Al-Rammahi continued.
CPAP is the most common treatment
CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure, is the most popular treatment available presently for sleep apnea. However, almost one-third of the individuals suffering from sleep apnea struggle to adapt to it, as the expert noted.
However, WellO2 is made to be utilized as an add-on therapy with CPAP.
As Al-Rammahi said, “Even though CPAP should be used as needed, WellO2 training can be used as an additional therapy since it addresses underlying reasons and may lessen CPAP adverse effects by moistening the airways,” as Fox News reported.
Limitations in the study – Experts
According to Al-Rammahi, there is yet a preliminary report is out, and the research is currently in progress. Moreover, the study did not include a control group.
Al-Rammahi said, “Nonetheless, given that the study compared their results to each participant’s personal findings, those persons were the controls,” and, “Despite the lack of a control group, the findings remain important. Qualified questionnaires were used, and polysomnography (PSG) was a thorough and trustworthy procedure that provided substantial results.”
Moreover, Dr. Chelsie Rohrscheib, a neuroscientist and sleep specialist at Wesper in New York, who was not part of the study, said, “Sleep apnea is primarily caused by obstructions in the upper airway that block the flow of oxygen into the lungs.”