| Giving Your Child Relief from Sleep Apnea |
| Written by Fred McConnell | |
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Newborn babies sleep for an average of 16 hours every day and when they become 6 months old; the sleep time reduces to 14 hours. When the child is 2 years old, his average sleep time will be 12.5 hours, which is 1.5 hours nap time and 11 hours at night. When children reach the age of 6, they no longer require a nap and the sleep time gets reduced to 11 hours. The sleep time of a 10 year old is 10 hours and children from the age of 15-19 years need 7.5 to 8.5 hours of sleep. A disorder like sleep apnea makes the child sleep less than what is required. The amount of sleep your child loses or takes can differ every day. But, if you find your child stimulated all the time, sleeping while watching TV or other symptoms like sleep apnea breathing, then he could be a patient of sleep apnea.The Hopkin's Children's Center conducted a research on 31 children between the age group of 6-16 years by using magnetic resonance imaging. It was found that the children with sleep apnea disorder showed changes in hippocamus and right frontal cortex. These are the two areas of the brain, which are associated with learning and higher level of mental function. In the same study, researchers found that these children also had three altered levels of chemicals in the brain, which can lead to brain damage. It is not sure if the presence of the sleep disorder will be permanent in the child. Many studies are required to find out if the problem of obstructive sleep apnea in children can be reversed. Even when the whole process is reversed and the brain chemistry returns to normal, the child will face problems in learning and regaining things for a longer period till he suffers from an untreated sleep apnea. Two or three percent of children are today affected by sleep apnea and the symptoms are mostly found in the age group of 3-6 years. In maximum cases of obstructive sleep apnea, the main cause of disorder is enlarged tonsils or adenoids and the most preferred treatment is surgery. Few years ago, conducting surgery for removing tonsils and adenoids was common, but the doctors now decline the practice because of introduction of other treatments for the infection. Tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy has now days become a common treatment for diagnosing the problem. Research shows that ninety percent of the operations are done to cure the sleep apnea choking problem instead of throat infection. If your child is suffering from sleep apnea, he needs close attention as it can lead to IQ, memory and other learning problems. In most of the cases of obstructive sleep apnea, overweight is the major cause of worry and losing even a little weight can help in treating the problem. But, it is not simple and most of the times efforts put in to reduce fail very frequently. The next step could be using an oral sleep apnea breathing appliance while you sleep. These should be custom made and fitted by an orthodontist to hold the jaw in proper position for keeping the throat open while sleeping. But, many children just don't want to wear it. A CPAM (continuous positive airway machine) is the best way to treat the problem of sleep apnea in children. It delivers a stream of air via a mask, which is worn at the time of sleeping for keeping the airway open. These machines have proved to be very successful, only when they are used in the right way. A study was conducted on the sleep apnea snoring children undergoing the CPAP treatment to find out if they follow the medical advice while using the machine in a proper way. In the beginning, these children underwent sleep studies and their parents were questioned about the machine use by the researchers. The study showed that more than seventy percent children were not using the machine at night and those using the machine used it for only 5 hours, which is not enough to get benefited. What came to notice was that most of the children were young and needed parental supervision for making the correct use of the machine. Therefore, it is essential for parents to help their child in making the most use of the machine by giving proper guidance. They should choose the right mask as per the size of their child's mouth and ask him if he has any problem in wearing the chosen model. All this will definitely help the child in getting rid of the dangerous problem of sleep apnea, which can create problems in later years. |
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