New York, Sept. 13 (Reuters): New research suggests that symptoms of depression are fairly common among people suffering from obstructive sleep apnea, an ailment in which their airways become blocked and they frequently stop breathing for brief periods while they sleep.

However, treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which delivers pressurised air via a facemask to keep airways open while they sleep, may improve these depressive symptoms.

“I think clinicians need to recognise that patients ... with symptoms suggestive of depression may actually have sleep apnea,” Dr Daniel J. Schwartz, from The Tampa Sleep Center at University Community Hospital in Florida, said.

Symptoms of depression such as being tired and just not enjoying life are also symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, he added. “This does not mean that all patients presenting with symptoms of depression should be tested for obstructive sleep apnea,” Schwartz emphasised.

Schwartz said that he decided to look into depression among people with sleep apnea after noting that about 40 per cent of patients referred to his centre were taking antidepressants. His group's study, which appears in the medical journal Chest, involved 50 patients with relatively severe obstructive sleep apnea that responded well to CPAP.