Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic sleep condition affecting more than one billion people worldwide.

OSA and other sleep airway disorders can impair your gut microbiome. When your microbiome is less diverse, it can affect production of serotonin and melatonin which affects your ability to sleep.

New research suggests that manipulating the gut microbiome, through probiotics, could reduce the consequences of sleep apnea.

The study followed mice placed in conditions to mimic the intermittent cessation of breathing as in sleep apnea. Mice given custom probiotics slept longer and had fewer symptoms than the control group.

Probiotics are healthy bacteria you can use to improve the balance of your microbiome. Prebiotics are a type of food indigestible to you, but they feed the good bacteria in your gut.

References:

Badran, M., Khalyfa, A., Ericsson, A., & Gozal, D. (2020). Fecal microbiota transplantation from mice exposed to chronic intermittent hypoxia elicits sleep disturbances in naive mice. Experimental Neurology, 113439.

Ganesh, B. P., Nelson, J. W., Eskew, J. R., Ganesan, A., Ajami, N. J., Petrosino, J. F., ... & Durgan, D. J. (2018). Prebiotics, probiotics, and acetate supplementation prevent hypertension in a model of obstructive sleep apnea. Hypertension, 72(5), 1141-1150.