PHILADELPHIA, Updated 4:10 p.m. PST January 25, 2001 -- As many as 18 million Americans have a disorder called sleep apnea and many are unaware of the problem.

Sleep apnea is a serious disorder found in 4 percent of all middle-aged men and 2 percent of all middle-aged women. A person with the disease stops breathing repeatedly throughout the night when a flap of tissue causes the throat to close. It leads to snoring, interrupted nighttime sleep and excessive daytime sleepiness.

People with sleep apnea generally live shorter lives, suffer from heart disease, lung disease, high blood pressure, hypertension and stroke. Current treatment includes using CPAP (continuous positive air pressure), a breathing device worn at night. Many patients find the CPAP cumbersome and high maintenance.

Another option is surgery. It has a success rate of about 20 to 30 percent. Also recently approved for the treatment of sleep apnea is a procedure called somnoplasty. Radio frequency energy is used to minimize tissue and stiffen soft tissue.

Another Option

A one-year international study is underway at 21 centers in the United States, Canada and Europe to determine whether a new medication is safe and effective in treating sleep apnea. The drug is called SR46349B. It is in the third stage of review by the Food and Drug Administration.

Doctors say on previous studies, the drug appears to be the first truly promising medication for treating the symptoms of sleep apnea. It decreases a person's snoring and also seems to increase the quality of their sleep, including deeper stages of sleep.

Volunteers in the study are men and non-pregnant women, age 18 to 70 who have a history of snoring, daytime sleepiness and gaps in breathing. Half of the people in the double blind study receive the new drug, half of them get a placebo. So far the drug is shown to have side effects in a minority of people. The side effects include dizziness, drowsiness and increased nervousness.

Studies on the new drug are under way at:

• University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Ariz.
• Pacific Sleep Medicine, La Jolla, Calif. (858) 657-0550
• Pacific Sleep Medicine, Redlands, Calif.
• Stanford Sleep Disorders Center, Stanford, Calif.
• The Sleep Disorders Center, Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk, Conn.
• The Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders, Chevy Chase, Md.
• Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Harper Hospital, Detroit, Mich.
• Sleep Wake Disorders Center, Long Island Jewish Medical, New Hyde Park, N.Y.
• New York University Sleep Disorders Center, New York, N.Y.
• Center for Research in Sleep Disorders, Cincinnati, Ohio
• The Sleep Disorders Center of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Okla.
• Sleep Disorders Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pa.

For More Information Contact
Karl Doghramji, M.D.
Director, Sleep Disorders Center
Thomas Jefferson University Medical College
1015 Walnut Street
Suite 319 Curtis
Philadelphia, Pa. 19107-5099
(800) JEFF-NOW