What is the link between sleep apnea and depression? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325839.php?utm_source=n...

By Ana Sandoiu

New research has explored the link between sleep apnea and
depression and suggests that the former may be one reason that
depression treatments fail.

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What is the link between sleep apnea and depression? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325839.php?utm_source=n...

Treating sleep apnea with a CPAP machine may reduce the

symptoms of depresson.

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What is the link between sleep apnea and depression? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325839.php?utm_source=n...

Around 20–30% of people with depression and other mood

disorders do not get the help they need from existing therapies.

Depression is the "leading cause of disability worldwide."

For this reason, coming up with effective therapies is

paramount.

New research points to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as a

potential culprit for treatment resistant depression and suggests
that screening for and treating the sleep condition may alleviate
symptoms of depression.

Dr. William V. McCall — chair of the Department of Psychiatry

and Health Behavior at the Medical College of Georgia at
Augusta University — is the first and corresponding author of
the study.

He says, "No one is talking about evaluating for [OSA] as a

potential cause of treatment resistant depression, which occurs
in about 50% of [people] with major depressive disorder."

He hopes that the team's new paper — appearing in The Journal

of Psychiatric Research — will remedy this.

Dr. McCall and team examined the rate of undiagnosed OSA in a

randomized clinical trial of people with major depressive
disorder and suicidal tendencies.

They recruited 125 people with depression, originally for the

purpose of determining if treating their insomnia would improve
their depression symptoms.

The original trial excluded people at risk of OSA, such as those

taking sleeping pills, or people with obesity or restless legs
syndrome.

The scientists tested the participants with a sleep study

and found that 17 out of the 125 (nearly 14%) had OSA.

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What is the link between sleep apnea and depression? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325839.php?utm_source=n...

Dr. McCall and colleagues note that people who had OSA did not
present with the usual indicators of OSA severity, such as
daytime sleepiness. Also, 6 of the 17 people were non-obese
women.

This is contrast with the demographic group usually at risk of

OSA: overweight men.

"We were completely caught by surprise," says Dr. McCall, "that

people did not fit the picture of what [OSA] is supposed to look
like."

Also, 52 of the 125 participants had treatment resistant

depression; 8 of those with treatment resistant depression also
had OSA.

The researchers point out that underlying conditions — such as

hypothyroidism, cancer, and carotid artery disease — may often
be the cause of treatment resistant depression.

Therefore, many people with depression undergo a series of

invasive and costly tests in an attempt to figure out the cause of
depression treatment failure.

Such tests may include an MRI scan or even a spinal tap — but
Dr. McCall and team urge for sleep tests first. "I am thinking
before we do a spinal tap for treatment resistant depression, we
might need to do a sleep test first," he says.

"We know that [people] with sleep apnea talk about depression
symptoms," he goes on. "We know that if you have [OSA], you
are not going to respond well to an antidepressant."

"We know that if you have sleep apnea and get [a

CPAP machine], it gets better and now we know that
there are hidden cases of sleep apnea in people who
are depressed and [have] suicidal [tendencies]."

Dr. William V. McCall

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What is the link between sleep apnea and depression? https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325839.php?utm_source=n...

However, the study authors also acknowledge that other factors

— such as the side effects of other medications, including beta-
blockers and corticosteroids — may cause treatment resistant
depression.

They also point out that suicidal tendencies are also a key factor,
and the researchers suggest that a further area of investigation
should be the question of whether or not treating sleep apnea
will also reduce suicide ideation.

In the United States, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death

among people of all ages.

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