Gout drug may help with sleep apnea

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A small clinical study suggests that allopurinol can offset some of the damage caused by obstructive sleep apnea.
Snoring and daytime sleepiness can often be traced back to obstructive sleep apnea - a condition in which a collapse of the soft palate tissues impedes the free flow of breathing. In fact, the person actually stops breathing momentarily many times in the night and the resulting oxygen deprivation has been linked to high blood pressure and heart disease.

In a new study, researchers at the University of Buffalo in the USA gave the gout drug allopurinol or placebo for two weeks to a group of 12 patients with sleep apnea. The drug blocks an enzyme called xanthine oxidase which otherwise triggers damage to the blood vessels during oxygen deprivation. Those on allopurinol showed an improvement in blood vessel functioning and a lowering of oxidative damage. Nor were there any side effects. The researchers now hope to carry out further work with allopurinol in sleep apnea to determine the best dosage and duration of treatment.

Source
European Respiratory Journal May 2006

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