Child sleep breathing problems studied

Child sleep breathing problems studied

HOUSTON, -- A U.S. study suggests children with high blood
pressure might be at risk for sleep breathing disorders.
The University of Texas Medical School study found 60 per-
cent of hypertensive children suffer sleep disordered
breathing. "SDB is important because it can result in day-
time sleepiness, limited attention span, poor school per-
formance, hyperactivity, poor growth and increased blood
pressure in the lungs," said Dr. Alisa Acosta, lead author
of the study. "We know there's a link in adults between
obstructive sleep apnea -- the most common of the SDBs --
and high blood pressure, so we were curious to see if the
same link exists in our pediatric population," she said.
Researchers evaluated 15 boys and five girls ages 4 to 18
with primary hypertension who snored, had enlarged tonsils
or night-time high blood pressure. Researchers found 12 of
the 20 children tested had SDB: seven had obstructive sleep
apnea (more than one apnea episode per hour); four had
obstructive hypoventilation; and one had mild SDB. The
study was presented last week in San Antonio during the
60th Annual Fall Conference of the Council for High Blood
Pressure Research.

It would have been interesting if they would have taken the next step and tested the parents. It's been reported that SBD/OSA is hereditary.

Den