People with Sleep Disorders More Prone to Depression

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that people who suffer from sleep problems and sleep-related breathing disorders are very likely to develop depression symptoms sooner or later. The team also showed that depression risk is directly connected to the severity of sleep disorders - the poorer or shorter the sleep at night, the higher the risk and the more serious depression symptoms.

Previous studies also showed that sleep-related breathing problems are the leading cause for the sleepless nights. Therefore, reducing overnight breathing problems would provide patients with a more restful sleep. Breathing problems which occur while one is sleeping cause other health problems, besides a poor-quality sleep, such as: cardiovascular disease, sleepiness during the day, lack of concentration, inability to fulfill one's daily duties etc.

The authors wrote in their report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine that analyzing the relationship between breathing disorders occurring during sleep and depression could "guide screening for depressive symptoms in patient populations with sleep-related breathing disorder, suggest strategies for managing sleep-related breathing disorder - related depression and alert clinicians about the possibility of untreated depression complicating adherence to sleep-related breathing disorder mitigation strategies and treatments."

The findings of the study showed that about 14% men and 6% of women presented moderate sleep-related breathing disorders. Many of the individuals with breathing problems during sleep also showed symptoms of mild and moderate depression. However, women were twice as likely to present depression symptoms than men.

Comparing the results in the sleep-related breathing disorders group with those in the control group, the team found that individuals who suffer from breathing problems during sleep are about 1,8% times more likely to develop depression symptoms than their counterparts who breathe normally at night.

"Our longitudinal findings of a dose-response association between sleep-related breathing disorder and depression provide evidence consistent with a causal link between these conditions and should heighten clinical suspicion of depression in those with sleep-related breathing disorder," the authors of the study concluded.