The Role Of Arousal And Respiratory Control Factors In The Pathogenesis Of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$567,924.00
Summary
Sleep apnoea (OSA) is a very common breathing disorder in sleep characterized by repetitive closure of the collapsible portion of the throat with serious effects on sleep quality and health. Basic causes of OSA are still largely unknown. We will investigate waking responses to breathing load and related respiratory control factors that we believe may be fundamental causes of OSA, and potentially explain many features of OSA including worsening in light sleep and with increasing age.
The Role Of Arousal And Diaphragm Displacement In The Pathogenesis Of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$410,875.00
Summary
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects 4% of men and causes excessive daytime sleepiness leading to increased accidents, high blood pressure and premature cardiovascular disease e.g. heart attacks and strokes. OSA is characterized by repetitive obstructions of the floppy portion of the throat during sleep with adverse effects on oxygen levels and sleep quality. OSA is strongly associated with obesity and is 2-3 times more common in men than women. How obesity and male gender predispose to OSA is ....Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects 4% of men and causes excessive daytime sleepiness leading to increased accidents, high blood pressure and premature cardiovascular disease e.g. heart attacks and strokes. OSA is characterized by repetitive obstructions of the floppy portion of the throat during sleep with adverse effects on oxygen levels and sleep quality. OSA is strongly associated with obesity and is 2-3 times more common in men than women. How obesity and male gender predispose to OSA is not known. We will investigate two factors that we believe are most likely involved in causing and explaining this gender difference in OSA. We will examine if breathing responses with brief awakening are sufficient to promote OSA patterns of breathing in snorers and if they are greater in male than female OSA patients. We have already shown that healthy men have greater breathing response to arousal compared to women. These brief arousals occur hundreds of times a night in OSA patients, and over-breathing on arousal may increase the probability of upper airway obstruction on falling back to sleep. We will also investigate why even healthy men show greater breathing responses compared to women. Men tend to accumulate fat centrally, particularly in the abdomen, whereas in women fat tends to be distributed more to the hips and thighs. This could be very important in OSA because downward pull exerted on the upper airway by the diaphragm is likely to be reduced in people with more abdominal obesity. This mechanisms has not yet been studied in humans. We will therefore investigate if increased forces placed on the diaphragm during sleep make the upper airway more prone to collapse. We will also investigate these effects during sleep onset, when there may well be important changes in diaphragm position as muscles relax.Read moreRead less
In Search Of Airways Collapse - A Multimodal Device For The Diagnosis Of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$479,786.00
Summary
Using a combination of off-the-shelf and emerging technologies we will develop a multimodal diagnostic device that will identify and characterize the points of airway collapse that occur in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea. Using this multimodal approach will allow sleep clinicians to recommend the best form of therapeutic intervention for each individual patient rather than the current strong reliance on positive pressure facemasks.
Clarifying The Pathogenic Role Of Arousal-hyperventilation In Obstructive And Central Sleep Apnoea: Testing Fundamental Pathophysiological Mechanisms And A Strategic New Treatment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$414,717.00
Summary
This project is designed to understand the mechanisms underpinning much more stable breathing during deep sleep in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). A newly developed analytical technique will be used to examine breathing effort changes across sleep, and interactions with respiratory-induced awakenings in OSA patients. In addition, a new treatment designed to stabilise breathing will be tested and refined towards a new treatment option for OSA and for central sleep apnoea.
Clinical Outcomes, Safety And Incremental Cost Effectiveness Of Multi-level Airway Surgery In Patients With Moderate-severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) Who Have Failed Medical Management
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$652,794.00
Summary
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a serious medical disorder with a high public health cost. OSA can be effectively treated but poor treatment compliance is a major clinical problem. As a consequence many OSA patients remain untreated, with significant implications for their long term health. New effective and safe therapies are needed. We believe that we will demonstrate a relatively straightforward, safe and effective surgical procedure for OSA after primary treatments fail. This will lead to ....Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a serious medical disorder with a high public health cost. OSA can be effectively treated but poor treatment compliance is a major clinical problem. As a consequence many OSA patients remain untreated, with significant implications for their long term health. New effective and safe therapies are needed. We believe that we will demonstrate a relatively straightforward, safe and effective surgical procedure for OSA after primary treatments fail. This will lead to improved patient outcomes.Read moreRead less
The Role Of Respiratory And Upper Airway Neural Control In Sleep Disordered Breathing
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$346,018.00
Summary
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a disorder associated with snoring. It affects 4% of adult men and causes excessive daytime sleepiness leading to increased accidents, high blood pressure and premature cardiovascular disease eg. heart attacks and strokes. Patients with OSA obstruct the floppy portion of the upper airway (UA) during sleep and consequently experience frequent episodes of oxygen deprivation as well as sleep fragmentation. OSA is at least 2-3 times more common in men than women. Whi ....Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a disorder associated with snoring. It affects 4% of adult men and causes excessive daytime sleepiness leading to increased accidents, high blood pressure and premature cardiovascular disease eg. heart attacks and strokes. Patients with OSA obstruct the floppy portion of the upper airway (UA) during sleep and consequently experience frequent episodes of oxygen deprivation as well as sleep fragmentation. OSA is at least 2-3 times more common in men than women. While OSA patients seem, on average, to have smaller upper airways than normal subjects, the cause of OSA cannot be attributed to this factor alone. For example, a small UA cannot explain the male tendency for OSA. Abnormalities in breathing control or the control of upper airway muscles that normally hold the airway open might also be important in OSA. Men have previously been shown to have a greater increase in UA resistance during sleep than women, consistent with the idea that a gender difference in UA muscle control partly explains why more men than women have OSA. We aim to investigate how changes in breathing and UA dilator muscle control might lead to unstable patterns of breathing and to OSA. We propose that protective UA muscle reflexes are reduced during sleep more in men than women, and are reduced by low blood oxygen levels and alcohol (a known aggravator of sleep apnea). We further propose that low blood oxygen levels not only result from OSA but may also aggravate OSA by preferentially reducing the activity of UA dilating muscles, by making breathing patterns overall less stable and by depressing the ability of subjects to arouse from sleep to an airway blockage. We believe that this tendency to decrease UA activity may be exaggerated in OSA patients. We also propose that men are more vulnerable to the deleterious effects of low oxygen than women. We will also examine if men and snorers have exaggerated breathing responses on arousal from sleep.Read moreRead less
Supporting teachers and teaching in flexible and non-traditional schools . This project aims to address a critical gap in knowledge about the experiences and conditions of people who teach in flexible and non-traditional schools in Australia. These schools provide a second chance at education for young people with challenging behaviours and/or learning problems. This project expects to generate new knowledge about the experiences and needs of these teachers, using a combination of in-depth resea ....Supporting teachers and teaching in flexible and non-traditional schools . This project aims to address a critical gap in knowledge about the experiences and conditions of people who teach in flexible and non-traditional schools in Australia. These schools provide a second chance at education for young people with challenging behaviours and/or learning problems. This project expects to generate new knowledge about the experiences and needs of these teachers, using a combination of in-depth research methods. Expected outcomes include detailed understanding of support needs for this workforce. This will significantly benefit teachers, sponsors and principals through recommendations on best practice management of this important work, along with evidence-based training artefacts for staff recruitment and retention.
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Early career teacher induction: Supporting precarious teachers. This project aims to investigate the ways in which Australian induction policies support precariously employed early career teachers to effectively manage student classroom behaviour. This project expects to generate new knowledge of workforce development and induction experiences of early career teachers employed on casual and short-term contracts. Expected outcomes of this project include alternative policy and practice recommenda ....Early career teacher induction: Supporting precarious teachers. This project aims to investigate the ways in which Australian induction policies support precariously employed early career teachers to effectively manage student classroom behaviour. This project expects to generate new knowledge of workforce development and induction experiences of early career teachers employed on casual and short-term contracts. Expected outcomes of this project include alternative policy and practice recommendations to support the transition of insecure replacement teachers within the profession. The benefits of this research include, improving teachers’ classroom management practices; the retention of new teachers; improving teacher workforce development; and building a healthier education system. Read moreRead less
Punish them or engage them? Identifying and addressing productive and unproductive student behaviours in South Australian schools. This project will provide a contemporary understanding of productive and unproductive student behaviour, which is a key educational concern in Australia. Evidence will be obtained to inform educational decisions to engage and promote positive student behaviour and improve academic achievement.
Would more highly-qualified teachers and trainers help to address quality problems in the Australian vocational education and training system? This project examines whether and how higher-level qualifications for vocational education and training (VET) teachers would improve quality in the VET system. Government documents and public commentary indicate that the VET sector suffers from some fairly serious quality problems. This is significant because VET provides training that underpins all Austr ....Would more highly-qualified teachers and trainers help to address quality problems in the Australian vocational education and training system? This project examines whether and how higher-level qualifications for vocational education and training (VET) teachers would improve quality in the VET system. Government documents and public commentary indicate that the VET sector suffers from some fairly serious quality problems. This is significant because VET provides training that underpins all Australian industries. Most VET teachers are qualified only to a Certificate IV level. A more highly qualified VET teaching workforce is likely to lead to improvements in quality; however there is currently no firm evidence to establish this link, as the 2011 Productivity Commission report on the VET workforce pointed out. This project aims to provide much-needed evidence to guide policy.Read moreRead less