Sleep drug tested to ease nighttime breathing struggles

This small, completed study tested whether a single dose of the sleep medication lemborexant could help people with moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Ten adults with a specific type of OSA (where they wake up easily from breathing struggles) took either the drug or a placebo before two separate overnight sleep lab tests. Researchers measured if the drug reduced breathing pauses, improved oxygen levels, and affected sleep quality and next-day alertness compared to the placebo.