CPAP reverses OSA impacts on the brain
Six months of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) can reverse cognitive deficits seen in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
A study led by Dr Angela D’Rozario, from the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, compared cognitive assessment across working memory, sustained attention, visuospatial scanning and executive function in 162 patients before and after CPAP treatment
Cognitive function across all domains improved after six months of CPAP.
Power spectral analysis performed on EEG data in a sub-set of 90 participants showed increased relative delta power (p<0.0001) and reduced sigma power (p=0.001) during non-REM sleep.
These findings suggest the reversibility of cognitive deficits and altered brain electrophysiology observed in untreated OSA following six months of treatment, the study concluded.
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Slow inhalation improves aerosol delivery to the lungs in CF
Long slow inhalations might improve delivery of aerosol to the lung periphery in cystic fibrosis patients with moderate lung disease, a pilot study shows.
The trial of five CF patients aged between 12 and 18 years with a mean FEV1 72%; range 63–80% compared two inhalation techniques – breathing tidally from a standard continuous output nebuliser and long slow inhalations from the dosimetric AKITA® JET system.
Results showed that drug delivery to the peripheries of the lungs was improved using the long slow inhalations.
“The slow breath permits the larger droplets contained in the nebuliser’s polydispersed aerosol to avoid impaction in the upper airways and so deposit in the larger conducting airways, while the smaller droplets that would normally reach the lungs with tidal breathing are able to penetrate deeper into the lungs,” the study authors wrote in their paper published in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.
The authors from Western Australia noted that the increased delivery to the lung did not alter the P:C ratio, indicating that both the central and, crucially, the peripheral dose would have increased proportionately.
The trial participants said they found controlled inhalation was easy to use and would be happy to use the device in routine care.
“These results suggest further work assessing the potential benefits of LSI with EBA nebulisers for the treatment of patients with moderately severe CF and related airways diseases is warranted,” the authors concluded.
The AKITA® JET nebulisers were provided by Vectura,
Funding available for pulmonary fibrosis research
The Pulmonary Fibrosis Australasian Clinical Trials (PACT) network is pleased to announce the 2022 Grant-in-Aid, up to the value of AU$30,000, to support investigator-lead clinical research into pulmonary fibrosis (PF).
Applications are open to health professionals or researchers facilitating high-quality clinical research to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with PF.
The PACT Grant-in-Aid, first launched in 2019, has previously supported Dr Lauren Troy investigating specialised diagnostic testing for ILD and Dr Yet Hong Khor, investigating overnight oximetry in fibrotic ILD.
Applications for the Grant-in-Aid close midnight Thursday, 14 April 2022.
Find out more here