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(Medical-NewsWire.com, November 18, 2012 ) San Francisco, CA -- When a young boy was showed snoring loudly on “America’s Funniest Home Videos”, the crowd laughed as anyone would expect them to. “Look, it is almost like an old man.”
While the video may look funny to those who do not know better, what the video was exposing was a young person who is suffering from severe sleep apnea, said Carole L. Marcus, director of The Sleep Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
To Marcus, snoring is no laughing matter. Nor does she think it should be for anyone else.
"Snoring is something that people often don't take seriously, but it could be a symptom of a very serious underlying condition," Marcus said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released guidelines regarding children being screened for snoring every time a visit to the pediatrician is utilized. Snoring is often related to sleep apnea, and loud or severe snoring is almost certainly a sign of the affliction. What is worse, sleep apnea is health concern not only directly, but also indirectly, as it manifests in both behavioral and health problems. Unfortunately, despite the obvious chain of relation, the symptoms often go ignored in health screenings.
Marcus recently issued new standards after her and a team of researchers reviewed over 3,000 studies. Their standards will be adopted by pediatricians across the United States.
"I can tell you from my clinical experience how many children fall through the cracks," Marcus said. "Sleep apnea is incredibly underdiagnosed in kids."
Sleep apnea is the cause of repeated interruptions in breathing during a person’s sleep cycle. Children who suffer from the condition are more irritable and sleeping during the day. Many of these children experience headaches and have difficulty focusing in school and with retaining information and commands, according to Dr. Anju Chandra of Chattanooga.
"Parents need to make it a point to watch and listen to their children while they are sleeping," he said. "They definitely need to pay attention to snoring just as they pay attention to height and weight, and bring it up with their pediatrician."
Sleep apnea affects between 2-5% of children; however, only a lower percentage is diagnosed and receives any type of treatment. For every five children diagnosed with asthma, there should at least one child diagnosed with sleep apnea.
"We all know, 'Oh this kid has asthma,'" Chandra said. "But how often do you know this kid has sleep apnea? It's not that often."
While removal of tonsils can cure some sleep apnea, Marcus says that many others will need continuous positive airway pressure, usually in the form of machines that pump air through a tube and mask into the child’s airway.
"It's the opposite of a vacuum," she said. "A vacuum sucks out air, this machine blows air. If you think of the throat as a balloon, if you keep air going through the balloon it will keep it open."
Chandra states that the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations are groundbreaking in their steps for sleep medicine regarding children.
"It's a big deal because it shows that they recognize the importance of sleep disorders in children," he said. "It's a big change, and it's an important one."
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