Epilepsy pill promises an end to sleep condition that may affect as many as 10 million Britons

An epilepsy pill could soon be used to treat obstructive sleep apnoea – a condition which can trigger loud snoring and debilitating broken sleep.

Researchers found that the drug, sultiame – used as an anticonvulsant since the 1950s – reduces the night-time breathing problems that patients suffer and improves sleep quality.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) occurs when the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, blocking the airways. 

This interrupts normal breathing, with symptoms including loud snoring, noisy and laboured breathing, and times when breathing stops and restarts with gasping or snorting.

During an episode, the lack of oxygen triggers the brain to pull the person out of deep sleep so that their airways reopen.

Sufferers are also more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and lung cancer.

Up to 3.9 million people in the UK are thought to have moderate or severe OSA, though experts say it is under-diagnosed and may affect as many as ten million.

The trial data, published in the medical journal The Lancet, involved 298 patients with moderate to severe sleep apnoea. 

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) occurs when the walls of the throat relax and narrow during sleep, blocking the airways. Pictured: Stock image

Researchers found that those given sultiame experienced up to 47 per cent fewer breathing interruptions and better oxygen levels than those on a placebo.

Currently there is no drug licensed for the condition, and patients are often prescribed continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) – a machine that delivers air through a mask to keep the airways open at night.

But as many as half of those with OSA struggle to tolerate the masks. Researchers hope the drug could offer an alternative.

‘We have been working on this for a long time, and the results show sleep apnoea can indeed be influenced pharmacologically,’ said Professor Jan Hedner from the University of Gothenburg, in Sweden, who was involved in the study. 

‘It feels like a breakthrough, and we now look forward to larger and longer studies to determine whether the effect is sustained over time and whether the treatment is safe for broader patient groups.’