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Sleep Apnea Research Paper

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Sleep Apnea is a sleep disorder that causes sleep interruption and a lack of oxygen to the brain. Many people know adults with this disorder who have had to attend sleep studies or wear breathing machines overnight, but what are the implications for children with sleep apnea? Research suggests that children with sleep apnea are in danger developmentally if their condition goes undiagnosed. The lack of quality sleep in children can lead to difficulties socially, emotionally, and cognitively. Unfortunately there is not a lot of research or many specialists devoted to this topic and many children who are suffering go undiagnosed. The American Sleep Apnea Association’s list of Pediatric Sleep Specialists lists only 33 doctors in the United States; …show more content…

For children with obstructive sleep apnea their cognitive development may be compromised. “Researchers have speculated that untreated childhood OSAS could permanently alter a developing child’s cognitive potential” (Ding, Liu, & Zhang, 2010, p. 236). The periods of sleep where a child’s body is deprived of oxygen are dangerous to the brain. If the obstructive sleep apnea can be diagnosed and corrected at a young age students have the change to regain what cognitive function may have been lost. In a study of 19 pre-school children diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea there cognitive scores were significantly lower than those of their peers in a control group. The 19 pre-school children underwent surgery to remove their tonsils and adenoids and were retested on their cognitive function. The children’s scores improved compared to their scores before surgery and were not different from their peers in the control group. “This underscores the importance of diagnosis and treatment, insofar as cognitive impairments will arise in the developing brain of children, unlike in adults in whom development is completed” (Ding, Liu, & Zhang, 2010, p. 237). Brain development impacts a child for life and a lack of quality sleep has lasting effects on that development. “Efficient sleep is important to protect vital functions of the developing brain for children (such as memory consolidation), and good sleep is maintained by minimizing sleep disruptions from arousals” ( (Ding, Liu, & Zhang, 2010, p. 238). For children who are suffering from obstructive sleep apnea and are never diagnosed they may lose IQ points because “prolonged and untreated sleep deprivation causes the neurons in the brain to be stressed and eventually die. That translates into a loss of IQ. On average, children with OSA see a six-to- eight point drop in IQ…” (Gulli, 2009). This effect on a child’s cognitive

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