In addition, higher rates of biological characteristics such as HPA-axis hyperactivity and specific EEG patterns have been shown in this patient group. Selected abbreviations and acronyms MDD Major Depressive Disorder DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ICD International Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Classification of Diseases HAM-D Hamilton Depression Rating Scale SSRl selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor ECT electroconvulsive therapy
There is a very strong association between sleep disturbance and major depression,

lite link between the two is so fundamental that some researchers have suggested that a diagnosis of depression in the absence of sleep complaints should be made with caution.1 Sleep disturbance Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical is one of the key symptoms of the disease, may be the reason that depressed patients first seek help, and is one of the few proven risk factors for suicide.2 If sleep problems remain after other symptoms are ameliorated, there is a significantly increased risk of relapse and recurrence. Another aspect of the association is the remarkable, if paradoxical, temporary improvement in mood

seen after total Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical sleep deprivation in a high proportion of depressed patients. Incidence of sleep symptoms in depression

Symptoms of disturbed night-time sleep in people with depression have been described extensively in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical both clinical and epidemiological studies. In clinical samples, difficulty in initiating or maintaining sleep (including earlymorning wakening) or both have been reported in about three quarters of all depressed patients.3,4 In epidemiological samples examining insomnia symptoms and depression, sleep symptoms occurred in 50% to 60% in a Metformin sample of young adults aged 21 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to 30.5 In a UK population sample (n=8580),6 the incidence of insomnia symptoms in a wide age range of patients with depression increased with age. Overall, 83% of depressed patients had Megestrol Acetate at least one insomnia symptom, compared with 36% who did not have depression. This varied from 77% in the 16-to-24-year age group to 90% in the 55-to-64-year age group. When the authors looked at the value of sleep symptoms as a screening aid for depression, the proportion of participants with depression who reported symptoms of insomnia sufficient to warrant a diagnosis of insomnia (DSM-IV) was 41%, and the proportion without depression and without a diagnosis was 96%.