DEPRESSION AND SLEEP APNEA: RESEARCH SHOWS SLEEP APNEA TREATMENT MAY RESOLVE RESIDUAL DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS. CPAP and Oral Appliances are indicated

A new study "Effect of CPAP treatment on residual depressive symptoms in patients with major depression and coexisting sleep apnea: Contribution of daytime sleepiness to residual depressive symptoms." (see abstract below) suggests that treatment of sleep apnea will aid in resolution of symptoms. While this study used CPAP, Oral Appliances should have identical results.

The study concludes that "The results suggest that MDD patients with residual depressive symptoms despite pharmacotherapy who also have symptoms of suspected OSA, such as loud snoring, obesity, and daytime sleepiness, should be evaluated for sleep apnea by polysomnography and treated with an appropriate treatment such as CPAP. CPAP treatment may result in a significant improvement of residual depressive symptoms due to the improvement of daytime sleepiness in these patients.

Another study "Obstructive sleep apnea and depression." (see abstract below) reports 21-41% depression in sleep pne patients. It sites a previous study that lists sleep apnea as a risk factor for depression. It is not surprising that " Patients who have depression as well as OSA appear worse off than those with OSA only" ties together symptoms and treatments of sleep apnea, headaches and depression.

An opinion statement in Curr Treat Options Neurol. 2010 Jan;12(1):1-15 on on "SLEEP AND HEADACHES" ties together headaches, psychiatric problems and sleep apnea but stops short of what the NHLBI report that focuses on masticatory/trigeminal orgin of these problems.

The NHLBI published a report on the "CARDIOVASCULAR AND SLEEP RELATED CONSEQUENCES OF TEMPOROMANDIBULAR DISORDERS" THAT LOOKS AT MASTICATORY SYSTEM AS A COMMON CAUSE OF SLEEP APNEA, HEADACHES AND MANY OTHER PROBLEMS. Shimshak et al published two articles in Cranio that showed a 200-300% increase in medical costs in every field of medicine in patients diagnosed with TMJ disorders. This would include headache, migraine, depression and other diverse conditions.

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institue report states:
"The term TMD refers to a collection of medical and dental conditions affecting the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) and/or muscles of mastication, as well as contiguous tissue components. Symptoms range from occasional discomfort to debilitating pain and severely compromised jaw function. The masticatory apparatus is not only involved in chewing and swallowing but also in other critical tasks, including breathing and talking. Specific etiologies such as trauma and degenerative arthritides underlie some forms of TMD but there is no common etiology or biological explanation. TMD is hence comprised of a heterogeneous group of health problems whose signs and symptoms are overlapping but not identical.
Although broad longitudinal and cross-sectional epidemiological studies have not been carried out, TMD is estimated to affect about 12% of the general population, representing more than 34 million Americans. The majority of those seeking treatment are women in their reproductive years. As for many other pain conditions, the clinical scenario of TMD also tends to be more severe in women than men. TM disorders are considered a serious health problem because many individuals lose their ability to hold regular jobs and to function productively even within the context of a household environment.

The report talks about symptoms including "TMD has been used to characterize a wide range of conditions diversely presented as pain in the face or jaw joint area, masticatory muscle pain, headaches, earaches, dizziness, limited mouth opening due to soft or hard tissue obstruction, TMJ clicking or popping sounds, excessive tooth wear and other complaints."

The report also discusses effects on swallowing and breating ease: "There appears to an associated increase in coughing in subjects with sleep apnea. Occlusion of the pharynx can force residual secretions into the glottis and trigger coughing reflexes, swallowing reflexes, and other reflexes that could contribute to the disorganization of breathing during sleep. In addition to the muscles of mastication, the tongue plays an important role in the coordinated events of swallowing and breathing. The integration of breathing and swallowing is tightly linked, and these events in turn are in some manner linked to blood pressure regulation. Each of these pathways has been studied by scientists in individual disciplines, but there is a need for interdisciplinary studies to determine the interactions of the peripheral and central neural pathways controlling breathing, chewing, swallowing, and cardiovascular events. The presence of pain in patients with TMD would be expected to seriously impact upon these reflex and motor pathways. Little is known about the role of tongue position and how this may be altered in subjects with altered jaw location and structure. Sleep state has been shown to alter the central modulation of the coordination of breathing, airway dynamics, swallowing, and associated cardiovascular events. Differences in central modulation of these events in subjects with sleep apnea and TMD need to be evaluated using sleep as a dynamic change in the state of the individual. Cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, respiratory and swallowing alterations in awake and sleeping subjects need to be studied in a systematic manner in both in animal models and human subjects."

There are common developmental aspects that have been well documented between sleep apnea and TMJ disorders. There is an enormous cross over of signs and symptoms as well. While all sleep apnea may not be entirely related to masticatory structures there is unquestionably a large amount of crossover. There is a solid base of evidence based studies showing how airway issues change growth and development. There is also solid evidence based studies on treatment of sleep apnea with appliances that anteriorly position the mandible. there are numerous clinical reports and studies showing treatment of headaches and TMJ disorders with anterior positiong.

Is it time to look at a large proportion of sleep apnea as being related to jaw development. This would make it a treatment that could be treated and corrected by early interventions such as tonsilectomy and maxillary expansion. Maxillary expansion allows the mandible to automatically anteriorly position and frequently grow a healthier airway. A recent study showed that most pediatric patients having tonsils removed should also have expansion. Expansion according to many experts should precede tonsilectomy to reduce post operative risks.

The early correction of airway and jaw disorders could possibly save massive dollars in lifetime medical expenses if we extrapolate from the work of Shimshak. Shimshak did not show a correlation not cause and effect of TMJ disorders to increased medical expenses.

My opinion is that there is a definite cause and effect of TMJ disorders to massive increases in medical expenses. I believe that for the majority of patients sleep apnea are due to masticatory conditions that should be defined as a TMJ disorder. If we define sleep apnea as a TMJ disorder that other problems like ADD and ADHD are secondary TMJ disorders. This would also apply to morning headaches, cardiovascular, neurological, and psychiatric disorders


Sleep Med. 2010 Jun;11(6):552-7. Epub 2010 May 21.
Effect of CPAP treatment on residual depressive symptoms in patients with major depression and coexisting sleep apnea: Contribution of daytime sleepiness to residual depressive symptoms.
Habukawa M, Uchimura N, Kakuma T, Yamamoto K, Ogi K, Hiejima H, Tomimatsu K, Matsuyama S.

Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. hmitsu@med.kurume-u.ac.jp
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although extensive studies have indicated a relationship between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and depressive symptoms, the effect of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment on residual depressive symptoms in patients with both major depressive disorder (MDD) and coexisting OSA has not been examined.

METHODS: Seventeen patients with continued MDD despite pharmacotherapy such as antidepressants and/or benzodiazepines, who also had comorbid OSA, were required to complete the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), and Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS) at the commencement of the study and then again after 2 months of CPAP treatment.

RESULTS: BDI and HRSD scores decreased from 19.7 to 10.8 and 16.7 to 8.0 after 2 months of CPAP treatment (both p<0.01). We also found significant correlations among the improvement rates in BDI, HRSD and ESS scores (R=0.86 and 0.75, both p<0.01). The mixed effect model demonstrated a significant ESS effect on BDI and HRSD.

CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that MDD patients with residual depressive symptoms despite pharmacotherapy who also have symptoms of suspected OSA, such as loud snoring, obesity, and daytime sleepiness, should be evaluated for sleep apnea by polysomnography and treated with an appropriate treatment such as CPAP. CPAP treatment may result in a significant improvement of residual depressive symptoms due to the improvement of daytime sleepiness in these patients.

PMID: 20488748 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Sleep Med Rev. 2009 Dec;13(6):437-44. Epub 2009 Jul 10.
Obstructive sleep apnea and depression.
Harris M, Glozier N, Ratnavadivel R, Grunstein RR.

Australasian Sleep Trials Network, Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. melanie.harris@flinders.edu.au
Abstract
There are high rates of depression in people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in both community and clinical populations. A large community study reported a rate of 17% and reports for sleep clinic samples range between 21% and 41%. A large cohort study found OSA to be a risk factor for depression, but we are unaware of any longitudinal study of the reverse association. However correlations have not generally been found in smaller studies. Well-designed longitudinal studies are needed to examine temporal relationships between the two conditions and further research is needed to establish the role of confounders, and effect modifiers such as gender, in any apparent relationship. Symptoms common to OSA and depression, such as sleepiness and fatigue, are obstacles to determining the presence and severity of one condition in the presence of the other, in research and clinically. Sleep clinicians are advised to consider depression as a likely cause of sleepiness and fatigue. Several possible causal mechanisms linking OSA and depression have been proposed but not established. Patients who have depression as well as OSA appear worse off than those with OSA only, and depressive symptoms persist in at least some patients in short term studies of treatment for OSA. Direct treatment of depression in OSA might improve acceptance of therapy, reduce sleepiness and fatigue and improve quality of life, but intervention trials are required to answer this question.

PMID: 19596599 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Curr Treat Options Neurol. 2010 Jan;12(1):1-15.
Sleep and headache.
Rains JC, Poceta JS.

Center for Sleep Evaluation, Elliot Hospital, One Elliot Way, Manchester, NH, 03103, USA, jrains@elliot-hs.org.
Abstract
OPINION STATEMENT: Headache has been linked to a wide range of sleep disorders that may impact headache management. There are no evidence-based guidelines, but the authors believe that literature supports the following clinical recommendations: 1. Diagnose headache according to standardized criteria. Specific diagnoses are associated with increased risk for specific sleep and psychiatric disorders. 2. Collect sleep history in relation to headache patterns. Screening questionnaires and prediction equations are cost-effective. 3. Rule out sleep apnea headache in patients with awakening headache or higher-risk headache diagnoses (cluster, hypnic, chronic migraine, and chronic tension-type headache); patients with signs and symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea warrant polysomnography and treatment according to sleep medicine practice guidelines. There is no evidence for suspending conventional headache treatment in suspected or confirmed cases of sleep apnea. Treatment of sleep apnea with CPAP may improve or resolve headache in a subset of patients. The impact on sleep apnea headache of other treatments for sleep apnea (eg, oral appliances, surgery, weight loss) is largely untested. At a minimum, sedative-hypnotic drugs should be avoided in suspected apneics until the sleep apnea is treated. 4. Among patients with migraine and tension-type headache, insomnia is the most common sleep complaint, reported by one half to two thirds of clinic patients. Patients who suffer from chronic migraine or tension-type headache may benefit from behavioral sleep modification. Pharmacologic treatment may be considered on a case-by-case basis, with hypnotics, anxiolytics, or sedating antidepressants used to manage insomnia, tailoring treatment to the symptom pattern. 5. Individuals with chronic headache are at increased risk for psychiatric disorders. Assessment for depression and anxiety may be warranted when either insomnia or hypersomnia is present. Psychiatric symptoms affect the choice of sedating versus alerting versus neutral pharmacologic agents for headache. 6. All headache patients, particularly those with episodic migraine and tension-type headaches, may benefit from inclusion of sleep variables in trigger management.