{"id":18665,"date":"2011-11-27T19:28:41","date_gmt":"2011-11-28T03:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spiken.wpengine.com\/news\/swedish-medical-center-testing-new-sleep-apnea-therapy-looking-for-participants\/"},"modified":"2016-10-23T04:05:25","modified_gmt":"2016-10-23T11:05:25","slug":"swedish-medical-center-testing-new-sleep-apnea-therapy-looking-for-participants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/news\/swedish-medical-center-testing-new-sleep-apnea-therapy-looking-for-participants\/","title":{"rendered":"Swedish Medical Center testing new sleep apnea therapy &#8211; looking for participants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><p>Swedish Medical Center has been selected to participate in a pivotal  clinical study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a new therapy  for patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p><a href=\"http:\/\/inspiresleep.com\/patient-clinical.php\" target=\"_blank\">The STAR trial<\/a> (Stimulation Therapy for Apnea Reduction) will be conducted at leading  medical centers across the United States and Europe, and will evaluate  the efficacy of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/inspiresleep.com\/inspire-therapy-animation.php\" target=\"_blank\">Inspire\u2122 Upper Airway Stimulation (UAS) therapy<\/a>, an implantable therapy that works with the body&#8217;s natural physiology to prevent airway obstruction during sleep.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p>More than 18 million Americans suffer from OSA, which is  characterized by repeated episodes of upper airway collapse during  sleep. Patients with OSA stop breathing frequently during sleep, often  for a minute or longer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p>Daytime sleepiness, depression, weight gain, increase in industrial  accidents and diminished quality of life are all commonly observed in  people who suffer from OSA as a result of fragmented sleep patterns.\u00a0  Furthermore, OSA is associated with the development of systemic  hypertension, cardiovascular diseases (heart failure, heart rhythm  disorders), stroke, and diabetes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p>Current treatment options for OSA include weight loss, CPAP, oral  appliances, and surgeries. CPAP (Continuous Positive Air Pressure)  applied through a nasal mask is the current standard of treatment for  OSA.\u00a0 However several recent studies show that CPAP compliance can be as  low as 50 percent because of the nasal mask constriction, discomfort  and inconvenience.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p>The STAR trial will enroll CPAP intolerant patients (patients unable  or unwilling to make CPAP therapy work).\u00a0 To be eligible for screening  and inclusion in the STAR trial, patients must:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Have failed or not tolerated CPAP<\/li>\n<li>Have moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea<\/li>\n<li>Have a body mass index of less than 32<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p>Those who suffer from OSA who would like to receive more information about enrolling in the STAR trial should contact\u00a0<a href=\"tel:1-888-229-0678\" target=\"_blank\">1-888-229-0678<\/a>, or visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thestartrial.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.theSTARtrial.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p>\u201cStudies have shown that sleep apnea is as prevalent as adult  diabetes and asthma and the consequences of OSA range from disruptive to  life-threatening. While CPAP can be very effective to treat OSA, for  many patients it is simply too difficult to comply with, and thus  ineffective,\u201d said Dr. Sarah Stolz, M.D., medical director, Sleep  Medicine Associates.\u00a0 \u201cSwedish Medical Center was selected to  participate in this study because of our extensive experience in  treating patients who suffer from sleep apnea. We look forward to  contributing to this important research to determine whether Inspire  therapy can help the many people suffering from OSA with limited  treatment options.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p><strong>About Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p>OSA is a common sleep disorder that occurs when the tongue and other  soft tissues of the throat relax and obstruct the airway during sleep.  Apnea events can occur multiple times per hour throughout the night,  disrupting normal sleep.\u00a0 People suffering from OSA report significant  daytime sleepiness and impaired quality of life.\u00a0 Depending on the  degree of severity, OSA can be a potentially dangerous condition.\u00a0 OSA  has been linked with increased risks for cardiovascular disease, weight  gain and accidents resulting from daytime drowsiness.\u00a0 It is estimated  that one in fifteen US adults has moderate to severe OSA.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p><strong>About Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation (UAS) Therapy<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p>Inspire<sup> <\/sup>Upper Airway Stimulation (UAS) therapy is a  dynamic, implantable therapy that works with the body&#8217;s natural  physiology to prevent airway obstruction during sleep.\u00a0 While the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/inspiresleep.com\/patient-experiences.php\" target=\"_blank\">OSA patient<\/a> sleeps, Inspire therapy is designed to deliver physiologically timed,  mild stimulation to the hypoglossal nerve on each breathing cycle.\u00a0 The  stimulation is intended to restore tone to the muscles that control the  base of tongue, preventing the tongue from collapsing and obstructing  the airway.\u00a0 Patients control when the therapy is turned on and off via a  handheld programmer.\u00a0 In contrast to other surgical procedures to treat  sleep apnea, Inspire therapy does not require removing or permanently  altering an OSA patient\u2019s facial or airway anatomy.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p><strong>About The STAR Trial<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p>The STAR trial is a global, multi-center clinical trial which will  assess the safety and effectiveness of Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation  (UAS) therapy in patients who suffer from moderate to severe obstructive  sleep apnea (OSA). The trial will be conducted at leading medical  centers throughout the United States and Europe.\u00a0 For more information  on The STAR trial, visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.startrial.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.STARtrial.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><p>\u00a0<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Swedish Medical Center has been selected to participate in a pivotal clinical study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a new therapy for patients with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-18665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18665"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18665"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=18665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}