Indopedia All Things Marijuana
A synthetic version of a molecule found in the cannabis plant was safe and effective in treating obstructive sleep apnea in the first large, multi-site study of a drug for the sleep disorder funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study was conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern Medicine.
There currently is no drug treatment for sleep apnea, a sleep breathing disorder affecting about 30 million individuals in the United States and linked to numerous health problems. In sleep apnea, breathing is interrupted. These pauses can last from a few seconds to several minutes and can occur 30 times or more in an hour. Untreated sleep apnea raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, sleepiness and cognitive impairment, as well as the risk of having a motor vehicle accident.
The common treatment for sleep apnea is a continuous positive airway…
