It has been believed for a long time that Insomnia is a symptom of depression. However, according to the latest study, it may actually activate this mental disease.
In one of the studies, depressed seniors suffering from insomnia were seventeen times more probable to remain depressed after one year than patients without insomnia. The findings of this research were presented last Tuesday at the 19th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Denver.
Another study revealed that seniors with insomnia and no history of depression were six times more probable to experience an episode of depression as seniors who were sleeping well. The association was particularly strong for women and for patients suffering from a certain type of insomnia pattern that awakens a person repetitively during the night.
Both studies that were mentioned above were carried out by the scientists from the University of Rochester Sleep and Neurophysiology Research Laboratory. Laboratory director Michael Perlis, PhD, explains WebMD that whilst the study concentrated on seniors, the findings could apply to any patient suffering from chronic insomnia.
"It has been assumed that if depression is treated properly, the insomnia will disappear, but this is not the case," Perlis explains to WebMD. "It is gradually more clear that you can’t ignore chronic insomnia [in patients suffering from depression]. You have no choice but to treat it."
Other Research
After conducting another study, the scientists prove that patients suffering from depression and sleep problems treated with the antidepressant drug Prozac and the insomnia drug Lunesta got better faster than those patients who had been treated for depression only.
Perlis and his team are also carrying out research concerning depression in order to determine if treating insomnia decreases the severity or lengthens the time between depression episodes.
They are also trying to examine the influence of insomnia treatment on pain management in patients suffering from chronic back pain. The study is being funded by a $2.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
He claims that there is increasing evidence connecting chronic insomnia with other common ailments, such as high blood pressure blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. He defines chronic insomnia as a troubling a sleep disturbance lasting at least three months.
Treating Insomnia
So which treatments work best?
Perlis claims that insomnia lasting only a few days should be ignored as much as possible.
"If you don’t recompense in any way by changing your habits, the ship is probable to right itself," he states. "But if you change your habits, by either sleeping later, going to bed earlier, or forcing yourself to stay in bed when you’re wide awake, you are laying down the foundation for a more chronic disorder."
According to Perlis, if the insomnia persists more than five days or so, it should definitely not be ignored. He suggests trying one of the new generation of prescription hypnotic sleep medications, such as Ambien, Sonata, or Lunesta, or trying behavioral therapy that particularly targets insomnia.
According to a report issued last week, an expert panel convened by the National Institutes of Health endorsed the behavioral therapy approach. Panel members also expressed concern about the widespread use of over-the-counter and prescription medicines that do not have any clear benefit in the treatment of insomnia, such as antidepressants and antihistamines.
While conceding that insomnia medications of the new generation have fewer and less serious side effects than other sleeping pills and shows promise for long-term use, the panel concluded that long-term safety has not been proven.
The specialists observed that relaxation training together with therapy targeting erroneous, anxiety-producing beliefs about sleep loss has been shown to be a very effective way of treating insomnia.
"We are convinced that fight with insomnia can last for many years, and we know that the patients use a variety of over-the-counter and prescription medications to cope with it," panel chairman Alan Leshner, PhD, says, in a news release. "Unfortunately, there is no sufficient evidence to recommend most of these treatments for long-term use. There’s a clear need for more studies to fill this gap."
