Brain damage caused by severe sleep apnea is reversible

From Science Daily

A neuroimaging study is the first to show that white matter damage caused by severe obstructive sleep apnea can be reversed by continuous positive airway pressure therapy. The results underscore the importance of the 'Stop the Snore' campaign of the National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project, a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Sleep Research Society and other partners.

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Editor's note: I have been surprised to notice how many of the clients I see with depression, anxiety, anger problems also have sleep apnea. The problem is the old chicken and the egg which comes first? One of the symptoms of depression is sleep disturbance and one of the symptoms of sleep deprivation is depression. I have become much more alert to assessing the quality of my client's sleep as we investigate contributing factors to their depression.

CPAP machine effective treatment for sleep apnea

Reuters reported on 01/01/11 on a study done at San Diego State University which found that sleep apnea treated with a CPAP machine is effective. You can read more about the study by clicking here.

I have many patients who complain about symptoms of depression and they often have sleep disorders. With such an association, the clinician is left to speculate whether the sleep disorder is contributing to a depression or whether the depression is contributing to a sleep disorder. Many of patients report marked relief when they are diagnosted with sleep apnea and this gets treated with a CPAP machine. I, as a psychotherapist, find it validating to learn that the research supports my clinical observations.