Sleep Apnea’s link to Depression

COLUMBUS, OH – The link between 0bstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and depression has been studied for many years.  In 2005 and 2007 Dr. Daniel Schwartz published articles in the Journal Chest and the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine discussing his finding about treatment of sleep apnea and whether this treatment improved patients’ depression.  According to Dr. Schwartz, treating OSA definitely improved depressive symptoms, sometimes dramatically.

“Lack of motivation, lack of interest in daily activities, fatigue and tiredness may be seen by the patient and their physician as depression, but it may be sleep apnea,” said Schwartz who is medical director of University Community Hospital in Tampa.

More recently, Dr. Stacey Ishaman and a team at Johns Hopkins University compared patients diagnosed with OSA and a group of patients without OSA.  Significantly more patients in the OSA group met the diagnostic requirements for depression versus the non-OSA patients.  It was also noted that the severity of the sleep apnea was a very good predictor of the severity of their depression.

What does all this mean?  An estimated 12 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea but up to 90% don’t know they have it.  If you are suffering from fatigue even after what you think is a full-nights sleep you may be part of this statistic.   Many patients avoid diagnosis because they have heard horror stories about the most common treatment, CPAP.

There is another treatment option for mild to moderate sleep apnea.  Oral Appliance therapy is highly effective and avoids the discomfort of sleeping with the CPAP machine.  In the Columbus area, your experienced Dental Sleep Medicine practitioner is Dr. Mark Levy.  Contact us at 614-454-3488 to arrange a consultation with Dr. Levy to discuss your treatment options.