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The Hyperflexible People Who May Help Unlock Better Sleep Apnea Treatments
Patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome are six times more at risk for the sleeping disorder. Now scientists are studying them in hopes of finding remedies beyond the CPAP machine.
Obesity is known to be one of the major risk factors—and the weight-loss drug tirzepatide has recently been licensed as a sleep apnea therapy—because excess fat around the neck and upper body can obstruct the airway and cause pauses in breathing. Because of this, researchers believe that EDS sleep apnea patients are especially suited to treatments targeting muscles in the tongue and throat—like Miller’s HGNS, or a newer drug combination under development by a company called Apnimed. In his view, the genetics of EDS actively mirrors the damage which other people are inadvertently inflicting on their matrix proteins through behaviors and environmental stresses like smoking, chronic inflammation, excessive dietary sugar and the aging process itself, heightening their risk of sleep apnea through midlife.
Or read this on Wired