Sleep apnea can be caused by complete obstruction of airway or partial obstruction. Therefore obstructive sleep apnea is defined as obstruction of airway during sleep. Due to the obstruction of airway, your child's sleep gets interrupted. As the sleep is interrupted, your child may feel drowsy during the daytime. This also results in tiredness, headaches, loss of memory, lack of energy and depression.
If your child is a normal weight child, he may have tonsils and adenoids which can be cured with surgery. If you child is overweight, the excess fat may narrow the airway. Excess body fat on the neck and chest constricts the air-passageways and sometimes the lungs.
Obesity, mainly abdominal and upper body obesity, is the most significant risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea. Thus morbid or malignant obesity carries a greater risk.
If your child lies down, the throat muscles relax, the tongue falls back and the airway gets obstructed. Due to the obstructed airway, the oxygen cannot be pumped to various parts of the body. Therefore oxygen levels drop, and your child arouses from sleep to breathe and the cycle begins again. Your child might experience snoring which is the result of sleep apnea.
Snoring results from the vibration of excess tissue - whether it's fat, large natural anatomy or both - as the child breathes in.
Here are the signs and symptoms so that you can identify that your child is suffering from sleep apnea.
1. Interruption of breathing during sleep. Your child may gasp for breathing when breathing is interrupted.
2. Loud snoring or noisy breathing during sleep. As a parent of your child, you can find if they snore; your child may make all types of strange noises when he is sleeping. But snoring is less common in children.
3. Your child may be having a restless sleep. If your child is having sleep apnea, he is not going to get a good night sleep, as may not be able to breath properly while sleeping.
4. Breathing through the mouth, rather than through the nose.
5. Excessive tiredness or daytime sleepiness during the day.
6. With the inability to breath properly, your child may have difficulty in paying attention and difficulty in concentrating.
7. Your child may be having tonsils and adenoids.
Your child may sleep with his mouth open. You can see his chest retract as he gasps for air, and he sometimes sleep in strange positions. Your child may show signs of depression or outward signs of confusion because he may be generally tired, from lack of sleep. Your child may also show signs of behavior changes as he is not getting the sleep needed.
Due to the presence of some, or indeed many, of these signs does not necessarily mean that your child is suffering from sleep apnea, but it would be better to consult a specialist if he is facing with any of these symptoms.
Today, sleep apnea is being widely recognized as a common disorder amongst children of all ages, and particularly amongst children between the ages of about three and six. Estimates vary, but in the United States alone, the number of children suffering from sleep apnea is put at between one and a half and two million.
Sleep Apnea In Children
One very common sleep disorder affecting children today is the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. This sleep disorder is known to cause daytime attention and behavioral problems in children. Unlike in adults, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children is hard to identify. This makes sleep apnea symptom recognition important.
In obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, the muscles in the walls of the throat loosen up as the child sleeps. Because of this, the walls cave in and hinder the flow of air. After about 30 seconds, the child stirs to a lighter stage of sleep or brief restlessness. The muscles then become constricted, which decreases the obstacle, and the child is able to breathe again. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children typically starts between 3 and 6 years old, where the most common factor at that age is distended tonsils and adenoids.
However, it doesn't follow that people and children who snore have sleep apnea disorder. In fact, 10-20 percent of normal children experience primary snoring, whether regular or irregular. However, snoring is a sleep apnea symptom that is considered one of the main signs. But apart from snoring, there are other symptoms for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children. These include the following:
- Tonsils and adenoids are enlarged - Nightly snoring, often with intermittent pauses, gasps or snorts - Disturbed sleep - Breathing through the mouth - Problems falling asleep - Restless sleep - Irritability - Weight loss or poor weight gain - Chronic fatigue - Extreme daytime lethargy - Daytime cognitive and behavior issues like the inability to pay attention, having aggressive actions and hyperactivity, which result to problems at school
Doctors and sleep experts usually base their diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children on typical symptoms and indication of adenotonsillar hypertrophy, or big tonsils and adenoids, and breathing through the mouth. A doctor may diagnose obstructive sleep apnea through a sleep history and a sleep study, or nocturnal polysomnography.
Treatments
Obesity is not a sleep apnea symptom in children since the condition is only observed in adults. However, if the child is on the overweight side, that just might contribute to whatever sleep apnea symptom he or she is having. Thus, it becomes crucial that the child maintains a normal weight, most especially if he or she has obstructive sleep apnea.
Allergies should be treated in children with obstructive sleep apnea as well. One medication that can help improve nasal obstruction and a sleep apnea symptom is a nasal steroid. Surgery is the chief treatment for children suffering from obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. This entails removing the child's enlarged tonsils and adenoids through tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.
If the symptoms does not improve even after the tonsils and the adenoids are already removed, treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in children may include the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. This device can help transport air through the nose at a measured pressure that helps maintain open upper airway passages during sleep.
Both Nishanth Reddy & Veronika Namesse are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Nishanth Reddy has sinced written about articles on various topics from Types of Cancer, High Cholesterol and Aging. Nishanth Reddy is an author and publisher of many health related websites. For more information about sleep apnea visit: Sleep Apnea Guide. Nishanth Reddy's top article generates over 33100 views. Bookmark Nishanth Reddy to your Favourites.
Veronika Namesse has sinced written about articles on various topics from Yoga, Sleep Disorders and Sleep Disorder. Read more about sleep apnea symptom in adults and children. Discover the right. Veronika Namesse's top article generates over 4400 views. Bookmark Veronika Namesse to your Favourites.
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