Breathing problem during sleep linked to depression

Experiencing breathing problems while sleeping? Beware, it may raise your risk of depression, a new study has suggested.

And the risk of depression in women with sleep apnea- in which breathing becomes shallow or pauses briefly during sleep- is more than in men with such conditions, according to the study from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"Snorting, gasping or stopping breathing while asleep was associated with nearly all depression symptoms, including feeling hopeless and feeling like a failure," study researcher Anne Wheaton, an epidemiologist with the CDC, was quoted as saying by LiveScience.

"We expected persons with sleep-disordered breathing to report trouble sleeping or sleeping too much, or feeling tired and having little energy, but not the other symptoms."

Both depression and breathing problems during sleep are common, and both are underdiagnosed, the researchers said. Screening people who have for one disorder for the other could lead to better diagnosis and treatments, they said.

For their study, published in the journal Sleep, the team used data of 9,714 adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is an ongoing study conducted by the CDC.

Participants were considered to have depression based on their answers to a questionnaire asking about how often they experienced symptoms of depression. Six per cent of men and three per cent of women in the study had sleep apnea.

It was found that women with this condition were 5.2 times as likely to have depression, while men with sleep apnea were 2.4 times as likely to have depression.

The participants who had other breathing problems during sleep also had an increased risk of depression. However, the researchers found no increased likelihood of depression among people who snore.

The results held even after the researchers took into account other factors such as age, sex and weight, the researchers said.

The study found an association, not a cause-and-effect link. However, the researchers wrote that evidence from other research suggests that breathing problems during sleep may contribute to the development of depression.

For example, one previous study found a link between the severity of breathing problems during sleep and the odds of later developing depression. And other studies have shown that people who received treatment for sleep apnea showed improvement in their depression.

"Mental health professionals often ask about certain sleep problems, such as unrefreshing sleep and insomnia, but likely do not realise that [breathing problems during sleep] may have an impact on their patients' mental health," the researchers wrote in their conclusion.

Although exactly how the link might work is unclear, it could partly be explained by the fact that people with breathing problems experience sleep that is fragmented, or may have low levels of oxygen in the blood during sleep, they said.

source: indiatoday