Child Sleep Apnea Can Lead To Significantly Lower IQ Scores

Although it has been known for a long time now that children who have sleep apnea generally produce poor scores on IQ tests (typically getting an average of 85 as opposed to a score of 101 for children who do not have sleep apnea) one thing which has not been known until very recently is that this is produced by chemical changes within the brain. In other words an otherwise clever child might well turn in a second-rate performance because of nothing more than a sleeping problem which, in most cases, can be fairly simply treated.

In a study undertaken at the Hopkin’s Children’s Centre in Baltimore, 31 kids aged between 6 and 16 (19 of whom had been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea) were examined using a special type or magnetic resonance imager (MRI) and it was noted that the children with sleep apnea showed considerable changes in the right frontal cortex and hippocampus which are areas of the brain which are connected with higher mental function and learning.

The study also discovered that these kids were suffering from altered levels of three brain chemicals which were indicative of brain damage. This alteration of the brain chemistry brought about by the presence of sleep apnea might or might not be permanent and, at this stage, additional studies will be necessary to see if this effect is reversible.

However, even if reversal is possible and the brain chemistry and cognitive function can be returned to normal, kids with sleep apnea are going to suffer learning problems as long as they have untreated sleep apnea and will certainly not be able to rewind time and recapture this period of learning.

Naturally, parents should already be looking out for the signs of sleep apnea in their children and this study clearly demonstrates that early diagnosis and treatment of this sleeping disorder may have a considerable affect on a child’s success in life.

There are several signs of sleep apnea including frequent pauses in breathing during sleep that often lead to an arousal from sleep and to tossing and turning in bed. Children could also display labored or loud breathing, snoring, gasping, coughing and, at times, bedwetting at an age when this phase should generally have passed.

Parents may also see a child sleeping in an odd position, perhaps with their bottom sticking up in the air and their head tilted back in an unconscious effort to force their airway open.

In very many cases sleep apnea in children can be treated by taking out the adenoids or tonsils, or excess tissue from the nose or the back of the throat. Additionally, a CPAP machine (or pediatric CPAP) may also be employed to give the child an airflow delivered using a mask worn while sleeping to keep the airway open.

In itself sleep apnea is incapacitating for any child and the effect of night after night of poor sleep are going to take their toll on your child. However, when this is combined with an impairment of your child’s IQ, it is imperative that you do something at the earliest possible opportunity to have the condition diagnosed and treated.