- CHICAGO (Reuters) - Some
hyperactive children thought to be suffering from attention deficit disorder
may just be overtired because they are bad sleepers or heavy snorers, researchers
said on Monday.
-
- "To the parent, the message is if you have a kid
who is hyperactive and snores, think about the possibility that the two
may be connected," study author David Gozal of the University of Louisville
said.
-
- In his study published in the journal Pediatrics, Gozal
found roughly one-quarter of 5- to 7-year-old children with mild symptoms
of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) also snored. In some
cases, the breathing problems reached the level of sleep apnea, where breathing
is blocked repeatedly through the night and sleep is disturbed.
-
- "Over the years, we have observed many of those
cases who came off their ADHD medications once they were treated for their
sleep apnea," Gozal said.
-
- As many as 5 percent of American children, a majority
of them boys, are believed to be affected by ADHD, which is characterized
by inattention, impulsiveness and overactive behavior.
-
- Gozal said some candidates for the disorder are prescribed
drugs without a very thorough evaluation as recommended by the American
Academy of Pediatrics, the pediatricians' group that publishes the journal.
-
-
-
- "Pediatricians and parents should be aware that
in a proportion of these kids, their hyperactive symptoms may be due to
the presence of snoring and sleep apnea. Therefore, in this subset of 'hyperactive'
children who have sleep apnea, treatment of the sleep apnea should lead
to marked improvement if not complete disappearance of their hyperactivity
symptoms," Gozal said.
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