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Having Suicidal thoughts not just Depression. It could be Obstructive Sleep Apnea

 

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Researchers have found that having suicidal thoughts need not necessarily depression it could be obstructive sleep apnea, (OSA), which is a common sleep disorder. The findings appeared in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

"Effective treatment of obstructive sleep apnea resulted in substantial improvement in depressive symptoms, including suicidal ideation," said senior author David Hillman, clinical professor at the University of Western Australia.

"The findings highlight the potential for sleep apnea, a notoriously under-diagnosed condition, to be misdiagnosed as depression," Hillman noted.

The study involved 426 patients referred to a hospital sleep center for evaluation of suspected sleep apnea. Participants had a mean age of 52 years.  Of all the patients, 293 were diagnosed with sleep apnea and prescribed CPAP therapy. Results showed that nearly 73 percent of sleep apnea patients (213 of 293 patients) had clinically significant depressive symptoms at baseline, with a similar symptom prevalence between men and women.

However, clinically significant depressive symptoms remained in only four percent of the sleep apnea patients who adhered to the therapy for three months. Of the 41 treatment adherent patients who initially reported feelings of self-harm or that they would be "better dead", none reported persisting suicidal thoughts at the three-month follow-up.


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