Question:
I have noticed lately that my daughter often seems to stop breathing for
several seconds, then will grab a large breath of air suddenly while she is
sleeping. Is this sleep apnea?
She is 6 years old, and I'm thinking about having her tested. Is there
anyone who can give me some more information, especially about small
children?
Answer:
I'll see if I can provide some pointers... Surf to:
http://www.aap.org/search/search.htm
And enter "sleep apnea" as the search parameters. There are some
documents that might be of interest.
The following URL provides a brief overview of sleep apnea:
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/healinfo/disorder/sleep/sleep.htm
However, does it sound like sleep apnea? Yes. But how often does she do
this. It is normal for all of us to do this occassionally. But more than 5
times per hour and it is scored as sleep apnea. There are two basic types
of sleep apnea. There is obstructive sleep apnea, where something like the
tongue blocks the airway during sleep. This is typically found in someone
that is overweight and/or snores. The other type of sleep apnea is central
sleep apnea. That is, when the central nervous system forgets to tell the
body to breathe. And some people have both (known as mixed apnea).
Does she also have a lot of daytime sleepiness? Undiagnosed sleep
apnea causes a lot of trouble in school and at the workplace.
A number of years ago I went to an overnight girl scout camp out. We
shared a tent with another girl scout and her father. It was the last time
that I slept without my c-pap and was awake most of the night. The other
girl scout in the tent stopped and started breathing many times. There was
no doubt that she had a bad case of sleep apnea. I talked to her father in
the morning and explained sleep apnea to him and told him he should take
his daughter to the doctor. I found out that she had enlarged tonsils and
adnoids which were likely causing her apnea.
One listen will diagnose sleep apnea almost as good as a
polysomnogram. (Although you need the latter to figure out why.)
