Sound Sleep Guide

Posts Tagged ‘children’

Despite the fact that we have known for a long time that children who suffer from sleep apnea commonly get relatively low scores on IQ tests (normally scoring an average of 85 as opposed to a score of 101 for children who are not suffering from sleep apnea) one thing which has not been known until recently is that this arises out of chemical changes within the brain. As a result an otherwise bright child may well produce a second-rate performance as a result of nothing more than a sleeping problem that, in almost all cases, can be treated quite simply.

In a recent study carried out in Baltimore, 31 kids aged between 6 and 16 (19 of whom were suffering from severe sleep apnea) were examined with a special form or MRI and it was discovered that those children suffering from sleep apnea displayed significant changes in the right frontal cortex and hippocampus which are areas of the brain which are associated with learning and higher mental function.

This study also discovered that these kids were suffering from levels of three brain chemicals which were indicative of brain damage. This change to the chemistry of the brain resulting from sleep apnea may or may not be permanent and, at this point, further studies will be necessary to see if this effect can be reversed.

Even if reversal is possible however and the brain chemistry and cognitive function can be normalized, kids with sleep apnea will suffer learning problems as long as they have untreated sleep apnea and will certainly not be able to rewind time and regain this period of learning.

Parents should of course already be looking out for the signs of sleep apnea in their kids but this study clearly indicates that an early diagnosis and treatment of this sleep problem may have a substantial affect on a child’s success in life.

The signs of sleep apnea include frequent pauses in breathing during sleep which often result in an arousal from sleep and to tossing and turning in bed. Children may also display labored or loud breathing, snoring, gasping, coughing and, sometimes, bedwetting at an age when should generally have passed.

Parents might also notice that a child is sleeping in a strange position, perhaps with their bottom pointing up into the air and their head tilted back in an unconscious effort to keep their airway clear.

In very many cases child sleep apnea can be treated by removing the tonsils and adenoids, or excess tissue from the nose or the back of the throat. In addition, a continuous positive airways pressure machine (or pediatric CPAP) may also be employed to give the child a flow of air delivered through a mask worn while sleeping to keep the airway open.

In itself sleep apnea is debilitating for any child and the effect of night after night of inadequate sleep are going to take their toll on your child. But, when you combine this with an impairment of your child’s IQ, it becomes essential that you act at the earliest possible opportunity to get the condition diagnosed and treated.