This sleep disorder has been linked to depression

There are many things that can go wrong while sleeping. About 70 million Americans suffer from some type of chronic sleep disorder, making it one of the most common and difficult-to-treat conditions in the country.

A new study suggests that people with sleep apnea, a condition where breathing repeatedly stops and starts again, may be more likely to experience depression and a variety of serious medical conditions.

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The study was conducted by researchers who analyzed a pool of pilots from Saudi Arabia. Because it is a high-risk profession and people struggling with sleep apnea are more likely to experience fatigue and insomnia, the researchers wanted to better understand the disease in order to identify and prevent it earlier.

“A third of the participants had problems getting or maintaining sleep (insomnia), 33% had fatigue and exhaustion, 35.9% had depression, while 23.1% were excessively sleepy during the day,” the study explains.

The link between sleep apnea and depression has emerged in previous studies, which gives this link more legitimacy. This link is believed to exist because people with sleep apnea are not well rested due to waking up suddenly in the middle of the night and later falling back to sleep. The more they struggle with the disease, the less comfortable people feel in all aspects of their everyday life, which affects their job performance and relationships.

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Aside from being linked to depression, sleep apnea has been linked to high blood pressure, which increases the likelihood of heart attacks and other forms of cardiovascular disease.

Photo by Vladislav Muslakov via Unsplash

People with sleep apnea wake up at night due to the abrupt changes in their breathing pattern. Over the years, researchers have found that this is due to the tissues in the throat relaxing during sleep, blocking the airways, and disrupting sleep. It is a condition that affects approximately 22 million people in the United States

Sleep apnea is a serious and common condition. People with mild cases can benefit from sleeping on their stomach or side and keeping their airways as open as possible. For more severe cases, it’s important to speak to your doctor and look for other treatments, including the use of breathing aids such as a CPAP machine, and even surgery.