What Are The Ways To Prevent Obstructive Sleep Apnea In Children & Does It Reoccur?

Sleep apnea is a disorder that affects you to cease breathing for short cycles while you’re sleeping. To be more precise, patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) experience obstructed or restricted breathing for periods of 10 seconds or longer during sleep. Persons with this condition don’t take sufficient oxygen. This causes them to gasp and often wake up.

This disorder affects millions of American adults, and the prevalence of the disorder has been growing over the last few decades. Obstructive sleep apnea in children leads to sleep deprivation and other health complications on the body.

Sleep apnea is a serious and sometimes life-threatening condition because it continuously affects the ability to sleep well thus resulting in severe health hazards when left untreated. A new study states that losing your fat or maintaining a healthy weight can alleviate symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea.

Early identification and therapy are vital to prevent problems that can influence children’s development, cognitive advancement, and performance. The primary cause of obstructive sleep apnea is overweight or obesity problems. Clinical studies show that 60% of obese children are diagnosed with this disorder and are typically characterized by snoring, recurrent partial (hypopneas) or complete (apneas) obstruction of the upper airway.¹

Therefore, when you are exploring ways to prevent or stay away from this condition there are few things that need to be taken into consideration

Maintain A Healthy Weight – Parents find themselves in a difficult and confusing position when they are told their child needs to lose weight when he/she diagnosed with health complications. Obesity and extra weight are harmful to almost EVERY organ in the body. Being overweight can lead to many diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, asthma and even some types of cancer. To help your kid sustain a healthy weight, help them stabilize the calories they eat from diets and drinks with calories exhausted through physical activity and normal growth.

Physical Exercises- Despite medical treatment, proper diet and regular physical activities are immensely crucial to help avoid obstructive sleep apnea in children. Obstructive sleep apnea sufferers engaged in a routine, primarily aerobic, exercise program has demonstrated a decrease in infection seriousness and in daytime sleepiness, as well as a rise in sleep proficiency with substantial oxygen consumption.^2,3

Patients with untreated obstructive sleep apnea have a higher recurrence of atrial fibrillation after cardioversion than patients without a polysomnographic diagnosis of sleep apnea. Appropriate treatment with CPAP in Obstructive Sleep Apnea in children is often related to lower recurrence of atrial fibrillation.

Weight gain is one of the most critical factors of relapse of obstructive sleep apnea after medical therapy. Also, in patients who were using CPAP, recurrence was noticed when they tried to withdraw the device. In 70% of the cases, obstructive sleep apnea recurred after five nights of CPAP withdrawal. Upper airway collapsibility and neuromuscular tone, pharyngeal edema and infection, nerve breathing drive, sleep phases, and posture may perform a part.

In addition, according to a new study Obstructive Sleep Apnea in children increases the risk for Pulmonary embolism (sudden blockage of a major blood vessel in the lung, usually by a blood clot) recurrence. Aging, lack of exercises and overweight problems are few of the underlying conditions causing the relapse of recurrence of obstructive sleep apnea.

Although achieving and sustaining weight reduction are challenging, the outcomes are very helpful when children can do so. Besides, following a better lifestyle and effective home remedies can help prevent and manage the condition.^4,5

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Also Read:

• Obstructive Sleep Apnea With Hypersomnia – Causes, Symptoms, Treatment
• Can Obstructive Sleep Apnea Cause Pulmonary Hypertension?