| Beware, Noisy Sleepers! |
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A research conducted at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital medical centre in Ohio has revealed that apart from the fun snoring is linked with behavioral problems, mental impairment, and heart and metabolic disease. A study conducted on 12 months old kids has found that children whose Mother and Father - at least one parent snores have three times increased risk of being noisy sleepers themselves than kids whose moms or dads are silent sleepers.
The lead researcher, Dr Maninder Kalra from Cincinnati children’s hospital medical centre in Ohio said, "Snoring is the primary symptom of sleep-disordered breathing, which in children is associated with learning disabilities and metabolic and cardiovascular disorders."
Scientists in the US interviewed 681 families who had infants with an average age of 12 months and found that 15 per cent had frequent snoring, defined as occurring at least three times a week and 29 per cent with allergy sensitivity- a condition called atopy that can lead to allergies and asthma.
They also found that children who tested positive for atopy, an earlier indicator for the development of asthma and allergies, were twice as likely to snore as those who did not.
Dr. Kalra said that the study work of the kids with an average age of one year is the first step in deciding the natural development of childhood snoring adding that his team will follow the children over time to see if snoring progresses as they get older.
The study also unveiled the fact that youngsters with sensitivities to environmental and food allergens such as dust, pollen and eggs had doubled the risk of snoring for themselves. Kalra said, "So frequent snorers should be evaluated for sleep apnea." Apnea, a condition in which relaxed tissues and muscles closes the airway, causes breathing to stop for up to 10 seconds at a time. People suffering with apnea awake briefly when their brain detects a resulting drop in oxygen and their breathing resumes the process can occur so many times during the sleep.
Noisy sleep causes with the non-proper air flow, usually because of obstruction by the tongue or other parts of the mouth and throat, which relax during sleep. This causes tissues or muscles in air passages to vibrate. The narrower the airway becomes, the greater the vibration - and the louder the snoring.
In infants, a low-set, soft palate or enlarged tonsils and adenoids can narrow the airway, leading to snoring, as can nasal blockages caused by allergies. Kalra said hyperactivity is more common among children who habitually snore.
An increased prevalence of snoring occurred in 21.5 per cent of children who were sensitive to allergy triggers compared with 13 per cent of those who were not prone to allergies and in children with a parental history of frequent snoring it occurs in almost 22 per cent compared to eight per cent.
On the other hand a UK researcher has said the link was likely to be related to families being obese - half of snoring is related to weight. Professor Jim Horne, director of the Loughborough Sleep Research Centre, intimated it was possible the link between family snoring behavior was because of obesity. In Britain, there are approximately 15 million adults calculated who are noisy sleepers and of whom 10.5 million are male. A large proportion of cases are caused by obesity, smoking and drinking.
In the group of the parents, 20% of mothers and 46% of fathers were chronic snorers. Only 7.7% of children without a snoring parent turned out to be frequent snorers.
"Early detection and treatment can potentially reduce the incidence of disease due to sleep-disordered breathing in children", said Dr. Kalra
In addition to disturbing sleep, the interrupted breathing of sleep apnea can eventually lead to serious heart problems, because the repeated bouts of poor oxygen make the heart pump harder than normal and in extreme lead to brain damage.
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