Editorial
A better understanding of ADD and ADHD symptoms and a new way to reverse them has given newfound hope to the parents of children who struggle with behavioral issues and learning disabilities in school and at home. The solution, according to recent medical research, is surprisingly simple and yet frustratingly elusive: healthy, unbroken sleep.The key word in that phrase is “unbroken.” While parents do commonly strive to ensure that their children sleep for the recommended 8 to 10 hours each night, very few can attest to the real quality of that sleep. Increasing evidence is now coming to light that certain children with attentionrelated or behavioral disorders can be treated without medication. The real culprits behind their behavior? Interrupted sleep due to nasal obstruction.
The key to great sleep is healthy breathing through the nose. Not all breathing is equal. Many children with narrow or blocked nasal passages are forced to breathe through their mouths all or part of the time. For many, the nasal obstruction only occurs at night. When the children lie down and fall asleep, their nasal tissues swell and their throat muscles relax making an already small airway even tighter. They don’t get the oxygen they need and effectively start to suffocate. The body goes into panic mode and partially reawakens not enough for the child to regain consciousness, but just enough for the throat muscles to reopen the airway.
The issue lies in the body’s need to arouse itself repeatedly throughout the night. When a sleeping child’s body reawakens, the child then gets the oxygen they need. The reawakening occurs in response to adrenaline, the body’s natural stimulant that can be secreted by our adrenal glands numerous times an hour in order to keep the child breathing. The child is forced into something called “sympathetic dystrophy”, which basically means that they become over stimulated. Hours of such chemical stimulation during sleep leads to an anxious, hyperactive, unfocused child during the day. This is why we commonly see young patients filled with nervous energy. Parents tell us that their son or daughter just can’t keep still. That’s the adrenaline at work the repeated awakenings also cause the child to miss out on a complete sleep cycle. This happens over and over all night long. By morning, the child has failed to reach the deepest cycle of sleep and over the years this can have catastrophic consequences on behavior, physical health, and intellectual development.
ADD, ADHD and the Risk of Misdiagnosis
This chronic sleep problem, known in the medical community as “Sleep Disordered Breathing” (SDB), has begun to receive more and more attention in recent years as the number of ADD and ADHD diagnoses have skyrocketed. The symptoms of Sleep Disordered Breathing in children are one cause of ADD and ADHD, and it is currently unclear how many children have sleep deprivation. For example, SDB symptoms can include problems such as hyperactivity, shorter attention spans, unexplained anger or depression, and poor school performance all traditional hallmarks of ADD or ADHD. Children suffering from SDB may also exhibit other easily overlooked symptoms, including snoring, bed wetting, slouched posture, poor appetite, messy eating habits, headaches, and frequent open mouth breathing.For many of the children their behavior-related struggles turn out to be a direct result of ongoing sleep deprivation. It is important to note that tiredness can also be a symptom of poor sleep, but it is mostly limited to older children and adults.
As years of improper sleep progress, a child’s symptoms can also begin to reveal more lasting damage. The deepest cycles of sleep are when a child’s body develops physically, emotionally, and intellectually. If enough time passes without healthy sleep, you can see issues like delayed cognitive development, stunted physical growth, and abnormal upper and lower jaw development. The latter ultimately leads to orthodontic and dental problems.
