Sleep apnea is a medical condition characterized by frequent interruptions in breathing of up to 10 second or more during sleep. There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive, central and mixed. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type and is cased by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. This type of sleep apnea is associated with obesity. With central sleep apnea, the airway is open, not blocked, but the brain fails to tell the muscles to breathe. Mixed sleep apnea is when a person suffers from both obstructive and central sleep apnea.
With each apnea episode, the brain usually arouses the person with sleep apnea in order for them to start breathing again. But this type of pattern results in disrupted sleep that is of poor quality.
Sleep apnea is estimated to occur in about 4% of men and 2% of women between the ages of 30 and 60. The condition is associated with other disorders such as chronic headaches, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, heart attacks, strokes, and fatigue.
Doctors diagnose sleep apnea based on medical and family histories, a physical exam, and results from tests called sleep studies. Usually, your primary care doctor evaluates your symptoms first. He or she then decides whether you need to see a sleep specialist. Conventional therapy includes lifestyle changes (avoiding alcohol, losing weight, changing sleep position, quitting tobacco use), use of a mouthpiece that keeps the airway open during sleep, use of a positive airway pressure machine that one wears during sleep (CPAP), and sometimes surgery to make the airway larger or remove tonsils.
In the June issue of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine journal, scientists at the University of Illinois Department of Medicine reported that sleep apnea in rats that received cannabinoids (the natural chemicals in cannabis) was suppressed. Doses of delta-9-THC and oleamide stabilized breathing during sleep and blocked serotonin-induced worsening of the sleep apnea. Many patients who have used medical cannabis report improved sleep quality and less fatigue the following day. It is not known if the problems associated with sleep apnea (such as high blood pressure, heart attacks, irregular heartbeats, etc.) are affected by cannabis use and further studies are warranted to examine these issues.
i1] Investigators reported that doses of delta-9-THC and the endocannabinoid oleamide each stabilized respiration during sleep, and blocked serotonin-induced exacerbation of sleep apnea in a statistically significant manner. No follow up investigations have taken place assessing the use of cannabinoids to treat this indication. However, several recent preclinical and clinical trials have reported on the use of THC, natural cannabis extracts, and endocannabinoids to induce sleep[2,3] and/or improve sleep quality.
