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Suspected ADHD could be a sleep disorderBy Georgiann Caruso Symptoms that look much like attention-deficit disorder or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children could be a misdiagnosed sleep disorder. And according to research presented this weekend at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, about 18 percent of patients in the study were at risk for sleep-disordered breathing, which includes sleep apnea and snoring. Dr. Rose Sheats from the University of North Carolina, who specializes in orthodontics, helped to lead the research. Sheats said the take-home message is, "You can't rely on the type of face a child has, to assume that they are or are not at risk for sleep-disordered breathing." Researchers studied 100 children ages 7-17. Slightly more than half were female, and the group was three-quarters Caucasian. The scientists used detailed questionnaires and also looked at race, age, gender, body mass index and skull X-rays to see the jaw. Their results showed no associations with these factors, making the condition hard to detect in the children. "We as orthodontists and dentists who see children regularly have an opportunity to recognize the possibility that a child is at risk for sleep apnea or disordered breathing," Sheats said. "If you treat it, many of these conditions can be reversible at a young age." For parents, Sheats said, it's important for your child's dentist or orthodontist to be asking a few simple but relevant questions about their sleep pattern and behaviors, including snoring, inattention in class, misbehaving in class or waking up having a hard time breathing in the middle of the night. The child can then be referred for a sleep study and seen by a physician. Editor's Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.
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I always thought my child was very active(hyper) because she could't sleep, after seeing many doctors, the ENT said that she had enlarged tonsils and adenoids which was the reasons she never slept and that at age 5 was still getting up several times in the night. Please get your children checked out by an ENT.
My daughter developed ADD symptoms in high school along with depression. What she was diagnosed with after a sleep study was Narcolepsy! ADD/ADHD may be the very earliest signs that something is amiss!
My son had his tonsils and adenoids removed after a behavior specialist observed him for 4 hours. His sleep improved and his behavior got better. Talk to an ENT.
Much body repair occurs during sleep, a fact which many doctors overlook. I was having serious sleep problems, resulting in inability to think clearly, which the doctors attributed to everything BUT the fact that I was averaging only 2 hours of sleep a night. I wasn't stupid or psycho, just totally exhausted. When someone *finally* gave me sleeping pills instead of assuming I couldn't concentrate for psychiatric reasons, I was able to think, concentrate, work....
The exact same thing happened to me... I was so unable to function, falling down steps, driving on curbs, falling asleep mid day and feeling like 6pm was really midnight! I kept waking at night non-stop, felt depressed and was hospitalized. Durring the hospitalization they continued to give me sedatives, doubling them up, perplexed as to why I couldnt sleep. Gave me antidepressants and yet I still didnt improve. A few weeks later, on my suggestion had a sleep study... only to learn my obstructive apnea was severe and I was getting 10 mins of REM sleep a night. The doctor told me the sedatives were actually very dangerous as I needed to wake to breath! Well a year later and on cpap, I am happy, not sleepy and do not wake until morning. I am thin and female, so I guess OSA wasnt thought of in my case... But geesh, I was misdiagnosed as severe depression, and have to wonder how often OSA is diagnosed as a psyhc disorder.
Symptoms commonly associated with ADHD can be caused by many other mental, physical, personality, family, classroom, and environmental factors, either solely or in an interactive effect. Sleep disorders and insufficient sleep are good examples of other physical factors that mask ADHD. Unfortunately, most of these other factors are frequently ignored or overlooked, due to the popularity of ADHD and its quick fix (medication).
I would always suggest getting at least 2 if not 3 opinions on any diagnosis, especially ADHD, etc but I just think while some cases are legit, this is WAY over-diagnosed and a replacement drug for poor parenting in many cases.
I bet ADHD / depression diagnoses in children would drop 50% or more if kids got the sleep they need, which is 9-10+ hours for most under 18, 30 to 60 minutes of exercise, get outside and play, and increase recess time to more like 30 or 40 total minutes instead of 15-20 total, would go a long way.
Also, there is more and more information that drugs like ritalin and other anti-depressant drugs are not good for kids. Many if not most anti-depressant drugs aren't even approved for children under 18.
Don't forget that our public schools get more and more $$ for each new medical diagnosis regading any so-called learning disability so there is a big agenda to keep coming up with all these new medical conditions
my tonsils were so huge they touched eachother in the back of my throat. i was told since i was a kid to have them out but i was never made to.....last year, at 36 yrs old i had them removed because i had such sever sleep apnea i couldn't sleep at night but fell asleep at work every day at my desk and even once while driving to work (no accidents)....i attribute a lack of energy, motivation...and a huge number of problems with this poor sleep quality.....i never felt so good as once i was healed from the tonsilectomy...but PLEASE for the sake of your children do it right away and do not wait until 36 when you have so many other issues because of it....now i am having to step by step get my whole health back in order because of it and it was horribly painful and i was off work for 3 weeks.....i cried and cried it was so bad......don't wait....
My son was diagnosed with ADHD years ago. Medication did not help so I did a little research myself and realized that he was keeping up with his older siblings and not getting enough sleep. I simply put him to bed earlier and his symptoms improved immediately. Its amazing what a good night's sleep will do for your kid!
My son was 3/4's of the way to ritalin back in 1999 before I read an article in readers digest that hinted at breathing issues during sleep could cause ADHD symptoms. I promptly went to an ENT, who had no problem seeing that his adenoids were blocking his breathing. We had surgery and within 6 months, all ADHD symptoms were gone.
This all happened after I had taken him to 5 or 6 doctors who were hell bent on drugging my kid into submission.
It should be standard practice to send children to an ENT before ADHD is even discussed.
Oh, and forget the sleep study. An ENT visit is much cheaper and quicker. O
Although my Dad is 85 years old, and not a kid.
I would like to share that he has some dementia and he was slowly "degenerating" for more than 3 years. He was acting "kookie" hallucinating, wandering, giving away his money etc..
Then – he had a bad "episode" (that was proably a minor stroke) and I had to stay up while he "slept" for weeks and I saw that he was "waking" or moving every 15 mins. to 45 mins. No wonder he was a "kook!" My sister said she used on occasion, for her kids, Tylon@l P.M.. There was an absolutely miraculous recovery of his faculties and he now sleeps 5 1/2 hours straight through, goes to the bathroom and 3 1/2 hours more sleep! I give him breaks from the P.M. because even they are addicting to your system. But it really is a miracle how much this sleep has helped him.
Hi Mary,
I read your post and just wanted to add my sister was experiencing problems moving at night every 15 to 30 mins. It became apparent to me when we were on vacation and sharing a room. She had a sleep test and was diagnosed with sleep apnea. She now sleeps with her sleep apnea machine and she is a new person. Not only does she have more energy and feels rested, her primary care doctor has taken her off high blood pressure meds as she no longer needs them. You might want to have your Dad tested, it has changed my sister's life!
Our son, until he was 6, would hack and cough violently all night every night. He was also about to be thrown out of his school unless we agreed to put him on adhd meds (ie, amphetamines!) for his behavior. Because my wife has a history of asthma, his doctor assumed the night coughing was asthma, although there were absolutely no asthma symptoms other than night coughing. A dentist pointed out his enlarged tonsil, so we told the doctor, but he insisted he would "grow into" it and it was nothing to worry about. They had us giving him pulmacort and albuterol with a machine every two hours every night, which didn't work at all, and in fact made him cough so badly he'd vomit after some of the treatments. Eventually we took him to a specialist, who found a massive infection behind his tonsil, and wanted to know why it hadn't been removed yet. I'm guessing his primary doctor was resisting the removal because the insurance company doesn't like to pay for the procedure. After the removal, he immediately stopped the night coughing and his behavior improved. I've learned not to trust primary care doctors anymore. I'm still fuming mad about this, because coughing all night for years can't be good for a developing child, but what can I do??
Parents need to be educated to notice sleep problems in their children EARLY IN LIFE to prevent them what my son and our family has suffered throughMy son did not nap well or sleep easily at night from an early age.
No physician educated us on "sleep hygeine" of children. By the time he was a teen, he was completely sleep deprived, out of control, and diagnosed with mental illness. But when he was finally put on a pill that helped him sleep through the night at age 21, he was normal again temporarily, but it was too late for me to educate him on the sleep disorder and enforce the treatment so he could benefit from it in the long run. Currently he resists treatment and is often in trouble with the law and has been in jail. All from lack of sleep. It makes you crazy and want to self medicate because the brain does not recover.
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I am an adult with ADHD, diagnosed with this as an adult and probably had it all my life, looking back at inattention due to sleepiness in school; a few years ago I was diagnosed with a Sleep Disorder–Restless Leg Syndrome. Also snore, but do not use a C-PAP. This new study could help others immeasurably......
I have been teaching about the connection between ADHD and sleep disorders for almost a decade. The brain requires a minimum of 6 hours of "deep cycle" sleep in order for the hippocampus to function, recording learning into memory and creating new neurons. I think that sleep disorders not only mimic ADHD but trigger it over the long term. For more information, visit http://www.educationinsite.com
Parents can also read "Differentiated Pathways of the Brain". Lorenz Educational Press.
My son was diagnosed with ADD. I managed his attention deficit early on with the Feingold diet. No preservatives, no artificial colors. This was 30 years ago. At that time there were some products that were pure. Sadly, some of those no longer keep their product additive free. When he was in fifth grade the academics became more intenst and he needed ritalin. He went from a F student to A and B's. My son has Dyslexia as well. I think he has restless leg syndrome....when we traveled as a family - as a youngster he always slept with me and many nights I awakened with a foot in my face, and he thrashed all night...never a quiet sleep. He does have allergies as well.
I finally realized that i had ADD in Grad school. Ritalin immediately turned my grades to 96-98% from 70-80% and I only took it to study. At the same time, I discovered melatonin and my sleep improved. About 8 years later my new wife noticed that I stopped breathing in my sleep. I did a sleep study and I have obstructive sleep apnea. I now use Ambien and a cpap and I feel great when I wake up. My energy is increased and my ability to focus has improved significantly. I now see my 7 year old suffering from the same symptoms. The ADD medicine did boost his grades. The melatonin has improved his sleep. However, I will now be making an appointment with the EENT to assess his tonsils and adenoids. Sleep apnea is probably one of the leading causes of high blood pressure, heart attack and strokes.
Our little man (now 7yrs old) was diagnosed with a sleep disorder when he was in kindergarten and put on sleep aides. Prior to that, he was in trouble at school, acting out – it was to the point they were talking about sending him to an alternative school! Since the diagnosis and meds? He's not as tempermental and has been able to concentrate on his classwork better.
I'm sorry this article has so little to do with ADHD, except to imply it is over diagnosed. ADHD may be wrongly diagnosed in some children. However, many children and adults suffer from ADHD or ADD and don't know it. This title of this article does them and the people they know and live with a disservice.
Tom Cruise have dyslexia and yet he is still a very successful actor.~;`
Hello everyone,
I just wanted to let you know about a free Adult ADHD CME activity I just came across called "Today’s Patient in ADHD: A Focus on Transitional Care Across the Lifespan." This activity provides insights and learning geared toward treating the most challenging adult patients with ADHD in an interactive online format. You can earn 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™
Register at: http://mycmesite.com/adhd
sleep disorders can also lead to other health issues like cardiovascular disorders-".
my sister has dyslexia but she can live a very normal life eventhough she can't read that much;;`
dyslexia can affect anyone of use but this disease is not very debilitating anyway*',
Sleeping disorder should be ignored.It can be serious affecting your personal and professional life.
Another approach when given an ADHD diagnosis, is to have your child undergo a complete assessment to determine where the neurobehavioral issues may lie. This assessment can also help determine if the issues are related to something other than ADHD, such as the case in this study. Brain Balance Centers will first conduct a comprehensive assessment of all areas of the brain and body function before recommending any type of intervention. This process may help to shed more light on each child's unique situation versus just putting a label on a child based upon behavior alone and giving them meds.
there are many famous persons with dyslexia and it is not a debilitating disease. Tom Cruise is known to be dyslexic *,~
how about who suffered with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? Did adult ADHD will get it?
Anti Snoring Mouthpiece
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