People who suffer from sleep apnoea could be helped by new research.

The condition, which causes snoring, high blood pressure and poor memory, occurs when there is a breakdown in the signals that regulate breathing during sleep, when oxygen levels are low.

A new study by the University of Edinburgh could lead to new treatments for the disorder, which is linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

It could also lead to new interventions that help people adapt to sleeping at higher altitudes, where reduced oxygen levels can cause sleep disordered breathing even in fit and healthy people.

Researchers used genetically modified mice to show that an enzyme called AMPK helps maintain a normal breathing pattern.

In mice which do not produce AMPK, scientists found that the appropriate signals were not sent and they failed to breathe faster when oxygen is low.

Professor Mark Evans from the university's Centre for Integrative Physiology said: "Our findings identify exciting new avenues for the treatment of sleep disordered breathing, because drugs that mimic AMPK activation could restore normal breathing patterns in people suffering from this disease.

"Mice with AMPK deficiencies could also prove useful for helping us to identify such therapies."

The study was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and was funded by the Wellcome Trust and the British Heart Foundation.