Snoring in children can lead to poor thinking abilities, says study
Posted on: 23/May/2016 11:30:40 AM
A recent study has said that children who do not sleep very well, and snore in their sleep, can lead to poor thinking abilities. The researchers have said that persistent snoring can lead to sleep apnoea. The disorder affects the quality of sleep and can be linked concentration and learning difficulties. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago. The study was presented at the American Thoracic Society’s ATS 2016 international conference in San Francisco.
According to the researchers, Sleep apnoea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. The most common reasons for snoring are enlarged tonsils or adenoids - that can often be cured or reduced with surgery.
A total of 1359 school children were studied. They comprised of snorers and non snorers and were between five and seven years of age. Based on the severity of sleep apnoea, they were assigned to one of four groups. They were given sleep assessment questionnaires, an overnight sleep study and were measured on several cognitive functions including executive development and language.
Say the researchers, After comparing measures of cognitive functioning across the four groups, (we) found that even snoring alone has a negative effect on children’s thinking abilities. Our findings provide further justification for exploration and development of simple cognitive batteries that can be coupled to the current clinical evaluation of children with habitual snoring such as to better guide the management of the decision-making process.
