Child Sleep Apnea Might Well Produce Notably Lower IQ Scores
Sleep Apnea In Children Might Well Produce Notably Reduced IQ Scores
Despite the fact that it has been known for a considerable time now that children who are suffering from sleep apnea usually produce poor scores on IQ tests (by and large scoring an average of 85 against a score of 101 without sleep apnea) what we have not known until recently is that this results from chemical changes taking place within the brain. This means that an otherwise 'smart' child could well produce an average performance because of a sleep disorder which can be quite simply treated in most instances.
In a study which was conducted at the Hopkin's Children's Centre in Baltimore 31 children between the ages of 6 and 16 (19 of whom were suffering from severe sleep apnea) were examined with a special form or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and found that those children who were suffering from sleep apnea showed significant alterations in both the hippocampus and right frontal cortex - two parts of the human brain that are associated with higher mental function and learning. This study also discovered that these children had altered levels of three chemicals within the brain that is a sign of brain damage.
This alteration of the brain chemistry resulting from sleep apnea might or might not be lasting and additional studies will be needed to see whether or not this affect can be reversed. Nonetheless, even if reversal is possible and the cognitive function and chemistry of the brain can be normalized, children who are suffering from sleep apnea are going to continue to display a loss in learning as long as they suffer from sleep apnea which is left untreated and they will be unable to wind back the clock and regain this period of learning.
Parents should naturally already be on the lookout for indications of sleep apnea in their children however this study shows that an early diagnosis of this sleep disorder could have a very significant affect on a child's life.
The symptoms of sleep apnea might include repeated pauses in breathing while sleeping which frequently result in an arousal from sleep as well as both tossing and turning in bed. A child could also display labored and loud breathing, coughing, snoring, gasping and, sometimes, bedwetting at a time when this phase ought normally to have passed. Parents could additionally notice a child sleeping in a strange position, possibly with their bottom in the air and their head slanted back in an unwitting effort to force their airway open.
In nearly all instances child sleep apnea can be treated by the surgical removal of both the tonsils and adenoids or of excess tissue from the back of the throat or from the nose. In addition, a CPAP (continuous positive airways pressure) machine can also be recommended to provide a child with air that is delivered through a mask worn during sleep to maintain an open airway.
Sleep apnea is in itself detrimental to any child and the affects of a lengthy period of inadequate sleep will take its toll on your child's health. But, when you combine this with an impairment of a child's IQ, it is vital that you act as fast as possible to have this problem diagnosed and then treated.
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Help-Me-To-Sleep.com provides extensive information and advice on a whole range of sleep disorders including sleep apnia and obstructive sleep apnea in a child
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