Sleep Apnea: A Surprisingly Common Childhood Disorder

Sleep apnea, and in explicit obstructive sleep apnea, is typically thought to effect only overweight men from the age of concerning fifty onwards. After all, whereas sleep apnea is maybe most typically seen during this cluster, it conjointly affects a massive range of ladies and is increasingly being recognized as a very common disorder in children.
Perhaps the primary reference to sleep apnea in children was created by Charles Dickens in The Pickwick Papers, revealed in 1837, in which Dickens wrote regarding a fat boy with a short thick neck referred to as Joe who was perpetually falling asleep.
The primary medical reference to sleep apnea in kids then appeared a few years later in an 1889 edition of the British Medical Journal. But, it was not until 1976 that it began to receive serious thought, following the publication of a report by the Stanford University Sleep Disorders Clinic.
Today, sleep apnea is being widely recognized as a standard disorder amongst youngsters of all ages, and significantly amongst kids between the ages of concerning 3 and six. Estimates vary, however in the United States alone, the amount of youngsters suffering from sleep apnea is put at between one and a 0.5 and 2 million.
Thus what are the signs and symptoms that may counsel your kid is littered with sleep apnea. Well, these will of course vary widely, as is that the case with several conditions, however a number of the tell tale signs embody:
-Loud snoring or noisy respiration during sleep. Snoring is much less common in children than it is in adults, but a important variety of children do snore and this, on its own, does not necessarily indicate the presence of sleep apnea.
-Periods of not breathing throughout sleep. This can be not continuously easy to spot as the chest typically continues to maneuver up and down as if the kid is breathing, though no air is being taken in through the nose or mouth.
-Respiratory through the mouth, rather than through the nose.
-General issues in sleeping or restless sleep.
-Uncommon or excessive tiredness throughout the day.
-Behavioral issues and a lucid issue in understanding. This could include difficulties in being attentive, aggressive behavior and perhaps hyperactivity.
-A general failure to develop at a satisfactory pace. As an example, poor weight gain.
-Finally, a very common symptom in youngsters is enlarged tonsils and adenoids.
Now the presence of some, or indeed several, of these signs does not necessarily mean that your child is plagued by sleep apnea, however it would be reasonable to assume that this would possibly be the case, and you should definitely contemplate consulting your family doctor.