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Sleep Apnea clinical trials at UCSD

19 in progress, 13 open to eligible people

Showing trials for
  • Acetazolamide for Obstructive Sleep Apnea to Improve Heart Health

    open to eligible people ages 18-50

    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.

    La Jolla, California

  • Combination Drug-Therapy for Patients With Untreated Obstructive Sleep Apnea

    open to eligible people ages 18-65

    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.

    La Jolla, California and other locations

  • Do Endotypes Predict Response and Sequelae in OSA Patients

    open to eligible people ages 21-65

    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.

    La Jolla, California

  • Myofunctional Therapy on OSA

    open to eligible people ages 18-70

    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.

    San Diego, California

  • Endotype-Targeted Therapy to Rescue OSA Patients Struggling With CPAP Adherence (TOP-CPAP)

    open to eligible people ages 21-65

    More than 10% of the US population have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Standard of care is therapy with CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) which virtually eliminates OSA. However, most patients use CPAP only for part of the night (4-5hours) and about 50% patients discontinue CPAP long-term. Alternative therapies are limited, thus many OSA patients remain at risk of OSA sequelae (e.g. sleepiness, memory issues, high blood pressure, etc.). Importantly, different patients get OSA for different reasons, and recent data show that some of the underlying causes of OSA ("endotypes") such as having a low arousal threshold (i.e. waking up easily) are associated with lower CPAP adherence. Using a randomized controlled trial design, this will be the first study using a targeted intervention to manipulate the underlying OSA causes (i.e., giving a safe hypnotic to patients with OSA to increase the arousal threshold) to test the hypothesis that endotype-targeted therapy increases CPAP-adherence in patients who have low but continued CPAP usage. Ultimately, this strategy may improve the care and outcomes of millions of undertreated OSA patients.

    La Jolla, California

  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea Important in the Development of Alzheimer's Disease?

    open to eligible people ages 65-85

    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.

    La Jolla, California

  • Managing Opioid Related Sleep Apnea With Acetazolamide

    open to eligible people ages 18 years and up

    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.

    San Diego, California

  • OSA PAP Treatment for Veterans With SUD and PTSD on Residential Treatment Unit

    open to eligible people ages 18 years and up

    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.

    San Diego, California

  • Patient-centered and Neurocognitive Outcomes With Acetazolamide for Sleep Apnea

    open to eligible people ages 18 years and up

    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

    La Jolla, California

  • CPAP for SDB in Patients Who Use Opioids

    open to eligible people ages 18 years and up

    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. The goal of this study is to determine whether patients with chronic pain who use opioids and have SDB might benefit from the use of CPAP in terms of sleep quality, pain, quality of life, and other measures. In addition, the study will examine whether these individuals are able to adhere to CPAP, which will be important for future studies. Lastly, we anticipate that CPAP won't work for everyone due to the changes that opioids can cause in breathing patterns. We will examine how often CPAP is ineffective, and whether we can predict which individuals are least likely to resolve their SDB with CPAP.

    San Diego, California

  • Sleep for Stroke Management and Recovery Trial

    open to eligible people ages 18 years and up

    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.

    La Jolla, California and other locations

  • Cardiovascular Consequences of Sleep Apnea Plus COPD (Overlap Syndrome)

    open to eligible people ages 40-79

    Major progress has been made in the area of cardiovascular disease, but we believe that further progress will involve mechanistically addressing underlying respiratory causes including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The most common cause of death in COPD is cardiovascular, although mechanisms are unknown. OSA has been associated with major neurocognitive and cardiovascular sequelae, the latter likely a function of autonomic nervous system abnormalities, oxidative stress, inflammation, and other pathways. Recent data suggest that individuals with OVS die preferentially of cardiovascular disease compared to OSA or COPD alone, although mechanisms are again unclear. The combination of OSA and COPD may lead to profound hypoxemia. Individuals with COPD can develop pulmonary hypertension via disturbances in gas exchange and parenchymal injury leading to loss of pulmonary vasculature. OSA has been associated with mild to moderate pulmonary hypertension, but the situation may be worse if combined with parenchymal lung disease. The biological response to sustained hypoxemia has been carefully studied as has the topic of intermittent hypoxemia; however, to our knowledge, very little research has occurred regarding the combination of sustained plus intermittent hypoxia as seen in OVS. For example, we do not really know whether individuals with OVS develop coronary disease, right or left heart failure, dysrhythmias or some combination of abnormalities predisposing them to cardiovascular death. Thus, design of interventional studies is challenging as causal pathways are poorly understood despite our considerable preliminary data addressing these issues. The purpose of this study is to examine vascular mechanisms in individuals with COPD/OSA overlap syndrome (OVS) compared with matched individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) alone or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) alone and to perform a phase II pilot mechanistic clinical trial in OVS to examine the effect size of nocturnal bi-level positive airway pressure (PAP) vs. nocturnal oxygen therapy in cardiovascular outcomes.

    La Jolla, California

  • Time Restricted Eating in Sleep Apnea

    open to eligible people ages 18-70

    Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a highly prevalent disorder that is associated with both cardiovascular and metabolic dysfunction, such as hypertension, increased blood glucose levels and diabetes, obesity, and nonalcoholic fatty liver. While continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the best available OSA treatment, has been shown to improve blood pressure in OSA, it does not appear to improve metabolic consequences of OSA, and other therapies for OSA-induced dysmetabolism are needed. Animal models of time restricted eating (TRE) demonstrate an improvement in glucose and lipid metabolism, even in the absence of a reduction of caloric intake. Some human studies have shown an improvement in metabolic dysfunction with TRE, though further well-designed studies are needed. The effects of TRE on metabolic dysfunction in patients with OSA, a population with a high predisposition to metabolic disorder, has never been examined. In this study, we will conduct a randomized clinical trial to assess the feasibility and efficacy of 12 weeks of TRE, versus standard eating (SE), to improve glucose regulation and cardiovascular health of participants with OSA.

    La Jolla, California

  • Danavorexton in People With Obstructive Sleep Apnea After General Anesthesia for Abdominal Surgery

    Sorry, not currently recruiting here

    The main aim is to see if danavorexton can help improve people's breathing in the recovery room after abdominal surgery.

    La Jolla, California and other locations

  • Advancing Understanding of Transportation Options

    Sorry, in progress, not accepting new patients

    This Stage II randomized, controlled, longitudinal trial seeks to assess the acceptability, feasibility, and effects of a driving decision aid use among geriatric patients and providers. This multi-site trial will (1) test the driving decision aid (DDA) in improving decision making and quality (knowledge, decision conflict, values concordance and behavior intent); and (2) determine its effects on specific subpopulations of older drivers (stratified for cognitive function, decisional capacity, and attitudinally readiness for a mobility transition). The overarching hypotheses are that the DDA will help older adults make high-quality decisions, which will mitigate the negative psychosocial impacts of driving reduction, and that optimal DDA use will target certain populations and settings.

    La Jolla, California and other locations

  • Extracellular microRNA: Biomarkers of Endothelial Dysfunction in Obese Adolescents & Adults With Obstructive Sleep Apnea

    Sorry, not yet accepting patients

    Using a prospective observational approach and a clinical trial design comparing the effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure to diet and exercise, investigators plan to evaluate how obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) leads to endothelial dysfunction in adolescents and young adults and whether treatment of OSA can improve endothelial dysfunction. Concurrently, investigators will measure miR 92a/miR 210 levels in all subjects at baseline and following therapy to determine whether miR 92a/miR 210 levels reliably predict endothelial dysfunction in patients and responses to therapy.

  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea Treatment in Serious Mental Illness

    Sorry, not yet accepting patients

    Serious mental illnesses (SMI) like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are two of the most disabling and costly chronic illnesses worldwide. A high proportion of adults with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have sleep disorders, like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but tend to be underdiagnosed and undertreated compared to the general population. This study aims to examine feasibility, acceptance, and impact of OSA treatment and how it affects cognitive function in people with SMI.

    La Jolla, California

  • Distribution of Ventilation, Respiratory Drive and Gas Exchange: Measurements and Monitoring

    Sorry, accepting new patients by invitation only

    Respiratory physiology involves a complex interplay of elements including control of breathing, respiratory drive, pulmonary mechanics, distribution of ventilation and gas exchange. Body position may also play an important role in respiratory mechanics. While effective methods exist for measuring these variables, they are typically measured in isolation rather than in combination. In pulmonary disease, decreasing mechanical stress and strain and optimizing transpulmonary pressure or the distending pressure across the lung, minimizing overdistention and collapse are central to clinical management. Obesity has a significant impact on pulmonary mechanics and is a risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). However, our understanding of these elements is limited even in the general population. The investigators plan to use various validated methods to assess control of breathing, respiratory drive, distribution of ventilation and gas exchange to obtain a better understanding of underlying physiologic signatures in patients with and without obesity and the role of posture/position, with a secondary analysis comparing participants with and without obstructive sleep apnea.

    La Jolla, California

  • Underlying Mechanisms of Obesity-induced Obstructive Sleep Apnea

    Sorry, accepting new patients by invitation only

    Obesity is a common risk factor for the development of obstructive sleep apnea. However, not all subjects with obesity develop obstructive sleep apnea. This study will attempt to determine the mechanistic drivers between obesity and obstructive sleep apnea.

    La Jolla, California

Our lead scientists for Sleep Apnea research studies include .

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