Treating Sleep Apnea Could Help Treat Depression

Treating sleep apnea could also help treat depression according to recent findings published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Researchers studied data from 22 randomized controlled trials that were linked to treatment for obstructive sleep apnea with continuous positive airway pressure CPAP or mandibular advancement devices (MADs) to reductions in depressive symptoms.

Researchers discovered that treating the sleep disorders carried great benefits in studies where there were higher rates of baseline depression.

Furthermore, researchers noted that the latest findings revealed only modest improvements in depressive symptoms, showing a lack of evidence that CPAP and MAD are more or just as effective as antidepressiant medications.

"This systematic review summarizes the available literature on OSA treatment, demonstrating that both CPAP and MAD treatment result in small improvements in depressive symptoms based on questionnaires. Our results illustrate that the greatest benefit of CPAP treatment on depressive symptoms may occur in populations with worse depression scores at baseline," concluded researchers Marcus Povitz, Carmelle Bolo, and colleagues from University of Calgary, Canada, in a news release.