The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the weight-loss drug tirzepatide — sold by the brand name Zepbound — for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition in which the muscles of the throat dry up and block the airway, causing breathing during sleep. It’s hard to change.
The drug is approved for use in combination with a low-calorie diet and increased physical activity in those with moderate to severe OSA. This suggests that weight-loss drugs have many other uses besides controlling type-2 diabetes and obesity. Accumulation of fat around the neck area is due to laxity of the neck muscles.
What is OSA?
OSA is a condition where the neck muscles relax while a person sleeps, resulting in a feeling of suffocation and waking the person up. People with this condition usually do not feel rested even after a full night’s sleep and are prone to daytime sleepiness. Obesity is one of the major risk factors for OSA.
“More than 50 percent of people with OSA are obese and 25 percent are overweight. Fat around the abdomen puts pressure on the lungs, making them smaller. People with smaller lungs are more likely to have a floppy tongue that can block their airways at night. Accumulation of fat around the throat and on the back of the tongue can block the airway during sleep, leading to OSA,” says Dr Sitaram Bharatiya, consultant and former head of pulmonology, critical care and sleep medicine at Safdarjung. Jesse Suri said the hospital.
How does medicine help?
Significant weight loss, which can be achieved using drugs such as Tirzepatide, reduces the pressure around the neck. “Excess body fat contributes to many diseases, including OSA. This is just a new indication where drugs help weight loss in obese people. This is largely for insurers – so that the treatment and its cost can be justified. Now, we are seeing more and more of the effects of drugs. diseases, mainly because of its weight-loss properties. However, some other mechanisms are also being studied,” said Dr Ambrish, Chairman and Head of Endocrinology and Diabetes at Max Healthcare. Mithal said.
What does the test for OSA show?
Zepbound was approved for OSA based on two studies — one involving participants who used machines for positive airway pressure and another among those who were unwilling to use them. In both studies, participants were given 10 or 15 milligrams of Zepbound or a placebo. After 52 weeks, there was a significant reduction in the apnea hypopnea index for patients on Zepbound compared to placebo.
How is OSA currently treated?
Patients use a positive airway pressure machine while they sleep. It blows pressurized room air into the trachea which keeps the trachea open overnight. Patients may also be prescribed medications to improve nighttime sleep. But so far there is no drug to treat OSA.
Can OSA Occur in Non-Obese People?
yes And, drugs like Zepbound are unlikely to help in these cases. “Although it is often diagnosed in obese and overweight people, OSA can also occur in lean people. In them, OSA is mainly the result of bone abnormalities such as small bones resulting in small airways,” said Dr. Suri.
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