For the approximately 30 million Americans living with obstructive sleep apnea, treatment has meant one thing for decades: a CPAP machine — a pressurized mask worn over the face during sleep, connected by a hose to a motorized pump that forces air through a collapsing airway throughout the night. The device works. The problem is that up to half of patients who need it stop using it within a year.
A European clinical trial published in The Lancet and featured by ScienceDaily in March 2026 offers the most promising evidence yet that the future of sleep apnea treatment may include a pill taken once before bed. The drug is sulthiame — an existing medication approved in several countries for childhood epilepsy — and in the highest doses studied, it reduced breathing interruptions during sleep by up to 47% and improved overnight oxygen levels compared to placebo.
