CNN —The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first prescription medicine for obstructive sleep apnea: the weight-loss drug Zepbound. “This is a major step forward for patients with obstructive sleep apnea,” Dr. Sally Seymour, director of the FDA’s Division of Pulmonology, Allergy, and Critical Care, said in the FDA announcement. Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, affects as many as 30 million people in the USand is closely associated with obesity, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, which notes that weight loss can reduce its severity. It’s characterized by breathing disruptions during sleep caused by blocked airflow and increases the risk of heart and brain problems. Patients on the drug also saw reductions in blood pressure and inflammation, “important risk factors for cardiovascular complications of obstructive sleep apnea with obesity,” researchers wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Persons: Eli Lilly, Dr, Sally Seymour, ” Patrik Jonsson, Lilly Cardiometabolic, Jonsson, Lilly, Biden, they’re, Sanjay Gupta, Zepbound Organizations: CNN, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, American Academy of Sleep, OSA, New England, of Medicine, BMI, CNN Health Locations: FDA’s