Sleep Apnea Patients Prone to Higher Long COVID Risk
Preexisting obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was associated with up to a 75% increased risk of long COVID in adults, an analysis from the NIH RECOVER collaboration found. Unadjusted odds of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) were significantly higher for adult and pediatric patients with a prepandemic OSA diagnosis, according to electronic health record (EHR) data […]
Daytime Sleepiness Drugs of Varying Performance in Obstructive Sleep Apnea
One drug stood out for reducing excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in a meta-analysis, researchers reported. Compared with placebo, users of solriamfetol (Sunosi) showed improvement on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS; mean difference -3.8, 95% CI -5.24 to -2.50) after 4 weeks, as did groups taking armodafinil/modafinil (mean difference […]
Smaller Airways Set the Stage for Worse COPD Outcomes in Women
Smaller airways in women may explain their worse respiratory outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a large cohort study suggested. For never-smokers and ever-smokers alike, CT imaging revealed that men had thicker airway walls than women, who also had smaller airway lumen dimensions after accounting for height and total lung capacity. “It is plausible […]
Add-On Mavacamten Cuts Need for Septal Reduction in Obstructive HCM
WASHINGTON – Treatment with investigational mavacamten allowed patients with advanced obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM) to avoid septal reduction therapies (SRT), a researcher reported. In the VALOR-HCM study among 56 patients with documented oHCM who received add-on mavacamten to maximally-tolerated medical therapy, 17.9% met the composite endpoint (decision to move to SRT by week 16 or […]
Second-Gen Drug for HCM Emerges, Nipping at Mavacamten’s Heels
A second-generation cardiac myosin inhibitor showed promise for the treatment of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in the phase II REDWOOD-HCM trial. In the dose-finding study, 10 weeks of treatment with aficamten brought resting left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) gradients down significantly compared with placebo before a 2-week washout period returned gradients to baseline, reported Martin […]
Targeting Bacteria in COPD Shows Promise
One study of an immunotherapy for reducing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations missed its primary endpoint and failed to show a statistically significant benefit even in the subgroup that showed the greatest response. Another study, involving a similar product, showed results so dramatic that an independent expert suspected they were “too good to be […]
Does CPAP Therapy for Sleep Apnea Really Have Heart Benefits?
Despite the widespread belief that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) causes cardiovascular events like strokes and heart attacks, there is actually no good evidence that treating OSA lowers the risk of such cardiovascular outcomes. Observational data showing that OSA is associated with cardiovascular outcomes like atrial fibrillation (Afib), stroke, cardiovascular death, and myocardial infarction (MI) have […]