Study: NCT00203996

Intervention type: DEVICE
Group type: EXPERIMENTAL
Intervention: continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)
Description: CPAP is the most effective treatment available for sleep disordered breathing. CPAP provides a constant, controllable pressure to keep your upper airway open during sleep so that you can breathe normally. The pressure acts much in the same way as a splint and holds the airway open.

Intervention type: DEVICE
Group type: EXPERIMENTAL
Intervention: continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)
Description: CPAP is the most effective treatment available for sleep disordered breathing. CPAP provides a constant, controllable pressure to keep your upper airway open during sleep so that you can breathe normally. The pressure acts much in the same way as a splint and holds the airway open.

Intervention type: DRUG
Group type: EXPERIMENTAL
Intervention: depot leuprolide plus estrogen/progestin replacement
Description: Depot leuprolide is a long-acting, modified version of the natural brain hormone, gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH). This study drug will temporarily reduce the pituitary hormones that stimulate the ovaries to make both female (estrogen) and male (testosterone) hormones. The effect of this study drug will last approximately 12 weeks. During this time, your female hormone levels will be brought to normal by the use of a patch that contains estrogen and progesterone. This patch is placed on the skin and is changed twice a week. The subject will continue to wear this patch for 4 weeks after the end of the study, until the effects of the Lupron injection wear off.

Intervention type: DRUG
Group type: EXPERIMENTAL
Intervention: pioglitazone
Description: Pioglitazone (Actos). Pioglitazone is an oral medication approved in the Unites States for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes (however it is not approved for studies in this protocol). This is one of a class of drugs known as thiazolidinediones. This class of drugs has been associated with potential beneficial changes in the metabolism (use of glucose by the body) as well as lipids (fats) in the blood.

Intervention type: PROCEDURE
Group type: EXPERIMENTAL
Intervention: REM frag
Description: Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep will be fragmented by experimentally induced microarousals for 3 consecutive nights and non-REM sleep will be left undisturbed.

Intervention type: PROCEDURE
Group type: EXPERIMENTAL
Intervention: REM frag
Description: Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep will be fragmented by experimentally induced microarousals for 3 consecutive nights and non-REM sleep will be left undisturbed.

Intervention type: PROCEDURE
Group type: EXPERIMENTAL
Intervention: REM frag
Description: Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep will be fragmented by experimentally induced microarousals for 3 consecutive nights and non-REM sleep will be left undisturbed.

Intervention type: PROCEDURE
Group type: EXPERIMENTAL
Intervention: REM frag
Description: Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep will be fragmented by experimentally induced microarousals for 3 consecutive nights and non-REM sleep will be left undisturbed.

Intervention type: PROCEDURE
Group type: EXPERIMENTAL
Intervention: REM frag
Description: Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep will be fragmented by experimentally induced microarousals for 3 consecutive nights and non-REM sleep will be left undisturbed.