Sleep apnea is a potentially dangerous condition for a variety of reasons, including its link to high blood pressure and increased risk of stroke. Now a study adds evidence that for men, apnea also increases the likelihood of suffering from depression.
Apnea occurs when breathing is interrupted during sleep, limiting oxygen flow to the brain. The most common form is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), caused by an airway blockage from soft tissue in the throat and/or nasal passages collapsing during sleep. About 18 million Americans have OSA, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
The latest study included 1875 men between the ages of 35 and 83 who were evaluated for depression twice over a five-year period. A random sample of the participants, all previously undiagnosed with OSA, underwent polysomnography (a sleep study) and completed a questionnaire that assessed their level of daytime sleepiness.
The results showed that men with previously undiagnosed OSA were significantly more likely to be clinically depressed, as were men with excessive daytime sleepiness. Men with both OSA and daytime sleepiness (conditions that frequently go hand-in-hand) were four to five times more likely to have depression than men without either condition.
“Excessive daytime sleepiness and severe OSA were both associated with the prevalence and recent onset of depression in our community-based sample of men, and the presence of both was associated with an even greater risk,” said lead author Dr. Carol Lang from the University of Adelaide, Australia.
The researchers checked several factors during the study, including factors that might contribute to development of depression aside from apnea, and found that the association remained strong.
This is the latest in a downpour of studies showing linkages between sleep apnea and serious health issues, and a growing list focused on the condition’s association with mental health in particular.
Last year a study published in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences found a correlation between depression and anxiety and sleep apnea in both men and women. An earlier study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, which sampled nearly 19,000 people, found that those with sleep apnea were over five times as likely to also have a major depressive disorder as people without apnea. And a 2012 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study of 10,000 adults showed that men and women who experienced snorting and stoppage of breathing during sleep were three times more likely to show signs of major depression.
The specific reasons why sleep apnea contributes to depression are still not well-understood, and evidence is not yet strong enough to prove that the condition causes depression. But as these studies indicate, the prevalence of apnea and depression occurring together is well beyond coincidental. Unfortunately, research to date hasn’t supported a case for treating apnea as a means to alleviate depression without additional treatment options.
The latest study was presented at the 2015 American Thoracic Society International Conference in Denver.
Article by David DiSalvo, Published in Forbes Magazine
You can find David DiSalvo on Twitter @neuronarrative and at his website daviddisalvo.org.
