A recent study has found that Insomnia in elderly patients may cause Depression. These elderly patients were receiving only standard care from their health care providers, and the study has found the link between insomnia and their depression.
This study is a wake up call for many people who deal with insomnia. The importance of adequate sleep every night will lower chances of getting depressed, but for those who are experiencing insomnia because of depression, they must treat the depression first before they can treat the insomnia. In the study conducted, the doctors are still looking at whether the insomnia will dissipate when the depression improves.
Insomnia had always been listed as a symptom of depression, but with the recent study conducted researchers are finding that insomnia can also be a risk factor for the onset and recurrence of depression. The study used patients age 60 or older from 18 different primary care clinics as the base group for study. The 1,800 patients studied were all diagnosed with severe or mild depression. One group received normal care from their doctors while the other group received education and therapy for their depression specifically. The nurse treating them suggested changes in medication and referrals to psychiatrists to the patient’s primary physician.
The findings in the study are not conclusive, but the research suggests that insomnia may be both a symptom and a separate condition that coincides with depression. What the researchers concluded from this study is that insomnia is different in everyone. In some patients, it is a symptom of depression. In others, it is a separate problem that may cause their depression to worsen.
The good news to those elderly patients suffering from insomnia and depression is that there are safe and effective sleep medications on the market that these patients can take such as Ambien, Munesta, and Sonata. Therapy with a
Psychiatrist can also improve a patient’s depression and insomnia.
