UC San Diego

Introduction

The efficacy of non-pharmacotherapeutic treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, a highly prevalent condition with serious cardiometabolic and neurocognitive health consequences, is well established. Supplementing traditional treatment strategies with medications can improve symptoms and reduce side effects. Efforts to identify medications that target the causes of sleep apnea have met with mixed success. However, this remains a worthwhile objective for researchers to pursue, given the potential benefit pharmacotherapy could bring to those patients who reject or struggle to adhere to existing treatments.

Areas covered

This article presents the case for obstructive sleep apnea pharmacotherapy including drugs that reduce the occurrence of apnea events, such as weight loss agents, ventilation activators and muscle and nervous system stimulants, drugs that alleviate symptoms, such as wake-promoting agents for excessive daytime sleepiness, and drugs that improve adherence to existing treatments, such as hypnotics. Literature was accessed from PubMed between 1 March 2024 and 18 April 2024.

Expert opinion

Exciting recent advances in both our understanding of obstructive sleep apnea pathology and in the techniques used to identify therapeutic agents and their targets combine to embolden a positive outlook for the expanded use of drugs in tackling this consequential disease.