Source: CNN
If you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), you know how it can sometimes be a struggle to breathe. Now imagine having trouble sleeping, too. Maybe your symptoms also make you feel anxious or depressed. A recent study found sleep and mental health problems are common in people with this lung disease.
More than a breathing problem
In a recent issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Medicine, researchers looked at whether people with COPD were more likely to have insomnia. They also set out to see if the sleep disorder was linked to any mental health issues. For their study, they followed more than 8,700 people. In that group, around 3% had COPD.
The researchers asked all study participants about their sleep and mental health. Only around a quarter of people without COPD said they had trouble sleeping. But nearly half of those with the disease reported insomnia symptoms. The most common problems were trouble falling asleep and trouble staying asleep.