A report from the Daily Mail indicates that the anti-nausea drug dronabinol may reduce sleep problems.

A pill commonly used to treat nausea could be key to a good night’s sleep for millions who are affected by snoring.

Early results suggest that taking the tablet before bed reduces sleeping problems by almost a third, and now a larger trial is under way.

The drug, dronabinol, is already widely used to tackle nausea in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, and works mainly by suppressing activity in the part of the brain that triggers vomiting.

It’s now being used to help in sleep apnoea, where the tissues in the mouth collapse repeatedly during the night.

Muscles in the airway naturally relax as we fall asleep. For most people, this does not pose a problem. But in sleep apnoea, the tissue collapses, which shuts off breathing for at least ten seconds at a time, before the brain realises breathing has stopped and sends a signal to contract the muscles and open the airways.

Read the full story at www.dailymail.co.uk