Acute effects of transdermal nicotine on sleep architecture, snoring, and sleep-disordered breathing in nonsmokers

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide).

Polysomnography was performed using standard techniques to assess sleep architecture and sleep-disordered breathing.

Why It Was Studied

Patches were applied at 6 P.M. and removed at 6 A.M. the following morning, at which time venous blood was obtained for determination of serum nicotine concentrations.

Who Took Part

The study group was 10 men.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

Twenty nonsmoking subjects (10 men, 10 women) were recruited on the basis of a history of habitual snoring that was confirmed by overnight laboratory monitoring.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover.

Because people in this Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Blinding on both sides kept the men and researchers unaware of who received Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide).

Some men received a placebo instead of Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide), giving a reference point.

In the crossover set-up each of the men took both Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Administration, Cutaneous, Nicotine, Sleep, Sleep Apnea Syndromes, Smoking and Snoring.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) in 10 men.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 1994 (American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine), a journal based in England.

More context: the Therapeutic nicotine (patch, non-peptide) compound page, all human trials.