Sleep Disorders clinical trials at UCSD

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of seltorexant compared with quetiapine extended-release (XR) as adjunctive therapy to an antidepressant drug in treatment response in participants with major depressive disorder with insomnia symptoms (MDDIS) who have had an inadequate response to current antidepressant therapy with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI).

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a severe type of snoring causing people to choke in their sleep. It affects millions of Americans, causing many health problems. For example, patients with OSA often feel very sleepy and are at risk of falling asleep while driving. OSA also causes elevated blood pressure increasing the risk for heart attacks and strokes. Patients with OSA are often treated with a face-mask that helps them breath at night but can be difficult to tolerate. In fact, about half the patients eventually stop using this mask. Because there are few other treatments (and no drug therapy), many OSA patients are still untreated. Of note, especially young adults (i.e. 18 to 50 years old) benefit from treating their OSA, but they are also less likely to use the mask. Acetazolamide (a mild diuretic drug) has been used for over 50 years to treat many different conditions and is well tolerated. Recent data suggest, that acetazolamide may help OSA patients to not choke in their sleep and lower their blood pressure. Especially young adults with OSA are likely to respond well to this drug. Further, its low cost (66¢/day) and once- daily dosing may be particularly attractive for young OSA patients unable or unwilling to wear a mask each night. But previous studies had many limitations and did not focus on young adults. The goal of this study is to test if acetazolamide can improve sleep apnea and cardiovascular health in young adults with OSA (18-50 years old), and how it does that. Thus, we will treat 46 young OSA patients with acetazolamide or placebo for 2 weeks each. The order in which participants receive the drug or placebo will be randomized. At the end of each 2 week period we will assess OSA severity and cardiovascular health. Thus, this study will help assess acetazolamide's potential value for OSA treatment, and may also help to identify patients who are most likely to respond to acetazolamide (including select individuals >50 years of age). Ultimately, this work promises a drug therapy option for millions of OSA patients who are unable to tolerate current treatments.

Insomnia is a common condition in Veterans, with prevalence rates as high as 53% among treatment-seeking Veterans. Chronic untreated insomnia is associated with increased risk for functional impairment, psychiatric illness, suicidal ideation, unhealthy lifestyles, and decreased quality of life. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is recognized as the first-line treatment for insomnia. Despite its proven efficacy, CBT-I is not always readily provided and/or accessible to Veterans. To address these limitations, behavioral sleep medicine specialists have endeavored to streamline CBT-I through development of time-shortened variations of CBT-I. Although these modifications show promise for advancing care and access, studies comparing brief treatments to standard CBT-I have yet to be performed. This investigation will therefore compare a 4-session brief CBT-I to VA standard 6-session CBT-I to evaluate whether a brief intervention can provide comparable benefits to sleep, functional, and psychiatric outcomes in Veterans with insomnia.

This study will obtain preliminary information about whether, and at what dose, cannabidiol (CBD) may help with insomnia in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The study will be a 5-week randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled phase II trial using daily oral CBD doses between 50mg and 600mg. Sleep problems will be measured using a wrist-worn device and by self-report. Performance on tests of thinking skills will be compared before and after CBD/placebo treatment. Positive study results will provide support for the use of CBD as a potential treatment for insomnia.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common and associated with many adverse health consequences, but many patients are unable to tolerate standard therapies such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and thus remain untreated. Single-drug therapies have shown promising results in treating sleep apnea, but on average patients have only experienced partial relief. Multi-drug therapy may offer a more effective treatment approach. The goal of this study is to test the effect of combination therapy with three FDA-approved drugs (Diamox [acetazolamide], Lunesta [eszopiclone] +/- Effexor [venlafaxine]) on OSA severity and physiology.

This study will investigate why some people have Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and how the underlying cause may relate to OSA manifestations (including sleepiness and high blood pressure) and response to different therapeutic approaches (ie CPAP, eszopiclone, and supplemental oxygen). Understanding why someone has OSA could affect how best to treat that individual, but may also have an impact on what problems the disease might cause.

The primary medical therapies for patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea syndrome (OSA) require the use of medical devices on a nightly basis to help control breathing during sleep, which can be difficult for patients with mild-to-moderate disease. Because many patients use these therapies on a limited basis, or stop using them altogether, they continue to be at increased risk of the consequences of untreated OSA. Untreated and undertreated OSA compounds the risk of OSA consequences over time, particularly with increasing age and weight. Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT) takes a rehabilitative approach to OSA and is comprised of isotonic and isometric exercises that target the oral (e.g., tongue) and oropharyngeal (e.g., soft palate, lateral pharyngeal wall) to help restore normal breathing and airway patency at night while asleep. Should the study have positive findings, OMT could become an important alternative therapy for patients with mild-to-moderate disease because patients could utilize a therapy that improves their nighttime breathing through daytime exercises and without the need for a burdensome medical device.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common in older adults and has recently been implicated in pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Research has shown that sleep disruptions have caused memory impairment. Sleep apnea is a form of sleep disruption. We would like to examine how obstructive sleep apnea may contribute to the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

Patients with chronic pain who use opioids appear to be at increased risk for breathing issues during sleep, termed sleep disordered breathing (SDB). Treatment of SDB often consists of use of a device during sleep that provides continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) via a mask interface. However, this device is not effective or tolerated in all individuals. The goal of this study is to examine whether a medication called acetazolamide can improve SDB, as an alternative to CPAP treatment. The investigators will measure the improvement in SDB, as well as any change in symptoms, during a 1 week treatment with acetazolamide compared with 1 week of placebo (sugar pill). This study will help to provide data for longer term studies of treatment for SDB in patients who use opioids.

Many Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have trouble sleeping or have frequent nightmares. So far, no medication has been approved for treatment of insomnia in PTSD. The purpose of this research study is to find out if taking medications called trazodone, eszopiclone, or gabapentin can help decrease symptoms of insomnia in patients with PTSD. PTSD is a form of intense anxiety which sometimes results from severe trauma. Symptoms may include nightmares, flashbacks, troublesome memories, difficulty sleeping, poor concentration, irritability, anger, and emotional withdrawal. Insomnia is a disorder that can make it hard to fall sleep, stay asleep or cause a person to wake up too early and not be able to fall back to sleep.

Substance use disorder (SUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequently co-occur and having both disorders is associated with greater psychological and functional impairment than having either disorder alone. This is especially true in residential settings where both disorders are more severe than outpatient settings. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly comorbid with both disorders and untreated OSA is associated with worse functional impairment across multiple domains, worse quality of life, worse PTSD, higher suicidal ideation, and higher substance use and relapse rates. Treating OSA with evidence-based positive airway pressure (PAP) in Veterans with SUD/PTSD on a residential unit is a logical way to maximize treatment adherence and treatment outcomes. This study compares OSA treatment while on a SUD/PTSD residential unit to a waitlist control group. The investigators hypothesize that treating OSA on the residential unit, compared to the waitlist control, will have better functional, SUD, and PTSD outcomes.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a severe type of snoring causing people to choke in their sleep. It affects millions of Americans, causing many health problems. For example, patients with OSA often feel very sleepy and are at risk of falling asleep while driving. OSA also causes elevated blood pressure, memory problems and can severely affect quality of life. Patients with OSA are often treated with a face-mask that helps them breath at night but can be difficult to tolerate. In fact, about half the patients eventually stop using this mask. Because there are few other treatments (and no drug therapy), many OSA patients are still untreated. Acetazolamide (a mild diuretic drug) has been used for over 50 years to treat many different conditions and is well tolerated. Recent data suggest, that acetazolamide may help OSA patients to not choke in their sleep and lower their blood pressure. Further, its low cost (66¢/day) and once-daily dosing may be attractive for OSA patients unable or unwilling to wear a mask each night. But previous studies had many limitations such as studying acetazolamide for only a few days and not capturing important outcomes. The goal of this study is to test if acetazolamide can improve sleep apnea, neurocognitive function and quality of life in adults with OSA, and to assess how it does that. Thus, the investigators will treat 60 OSA patients with acetazolamide or placebo for 4 weeks each. The order in which participants receive the drug or placebo will be randomized. At the end of each 4 week period the investigators will assess OSA severity, neurocognitive function and quality of life. Thus, this study will help assess acetazolamide's potential value for OSA treatment, and may also help to identify patients who are most likely to respond to acetazolamide. Ultimately, this work promises a drug therapy option for millions of OSA patients who are unable to tolerate current treatments

The purpose of this study is to determine whether treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with positive airway pressure starting shortly after acute ischemic stroke or high risk TIA (1) reduces recurrent stroke, acute coronary syndrome, and all-cause mortality 6 months after the event, and (2) improves stroke outcomes at 3 months in patients who experienced an ischemic stroke.