If you have a small child who snores be forewarned: it could be a sign that he or she will become hyperactive later on.
Researchers writing in the journal Sleep report that young kids who snore are more likely to be come hyperative than those who don’t. Forbes reports:
Now, new research from the University of Michigan suggests the link is even stronger than many thought.
“The association is pretty strong, and we are saying it may be causal,” said Dr. Ronald D. Chervin, director of the university’s Sleep Disorders Center. “The sleep disruption itself may lead to hyperactivity.”
Chervin and his colleagues from both the University of Michigan and the University of Washington evaluated 229 children, who were aged 6 to 17 at the time of the study. They were drawn from a group of 866 2- to 13-year-olds whose parents were surveyed originally in the late 1990s in the waiting rooms of pediatric clinics. The parents of 229 children returned the follow-up survey four years later.
Of the 229, 30 children were rated as hyperactive. And that hyperactivity was predicted by the habitual or loud snoring, sleepiness or sleep-disordered breathing in the original survey done four years before, the researchers found.
Snoring and other sleep problems, Chervin and his colleagues concluded, “are strong risk factors for future emergence or exacerbation of hyperactive behavior.”
The new study, Chervin said, is the first long-term look at the association. Children in the original study who snored regularly were about four times as likely to have developed new hyperactivity by the time the survey was done four years later. Snoring early in their lives predicted the children’s new or worsened behavior problems four years later.
And then there’s this from Health Central:
Exactly how the snoring may lead to the hyperactivity is not clear.
“One of the reasons could be the oxygen levels during the night are lowered repeatedly, every time the throat closes,” Chervin said. At least in animal studies, he said, lowered oxygen brings about behavior changes.
Or, the sleep disruption may lead directly to the hyperactivity, Chervin added. Adults who are sleep-deprived just look very sleepy, he said. “Kids may stay awake at any cost, including creating an environment that helps them stay awake at any cost,” he added.
Medical News Today reports that researchers know more studies are needed to confirm this study’s results. And in the meantime?
Until such studies can be done, he says, parents should pay attention to their children’s sleep — and their own.
“Sleep problems in both children and adults are often undiagnosed, even though they can have a major impact on health, behavior and quality of life,” he says. “Getting enough sleep, adopting good sleep habits, and seeking medical attention for issues such as habitual snoring, daytime sleepiness and the breathing interruptions of sleep apnea can have a huge impact on the life of a child or adult.” He notes that people interested in more information can start by contacting the National Sleep Foundation, http://www.sleepfoundation.org.
MORE READING RESOURCES:
—Snoring
—How To Stop Snoring
—Snoring Remedies
—Snoring Mayo Clinic
—Hyperactivity in kids
—Attention Deficit With Hyperactivity
OF RELATED INTEREST: 30 Remarkable Health Benefits of Sleep (Backed up by Science)
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.