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Is Your Child Hyperactive--or Just Tired?
A recently published study suggests that many children thought to be hyperactive and perhaps having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) may, in fact, just be overtired because of fitful sleeping or heavy snoring.
ADHD, which is characterized by inattention, impulsiveness and overactive behavior, affects as many as 5 percent of American children, most of whom are boys. According to the study’s author, David Gozal of the University of Louisville, as many as one-quarter of 5- to 7-year-old children with mild symptoms of ADHD also snore. In some cases the snoring-related breathing problems reached the level of sleep apnea, a disorder in which breathing is blocked repeatedly through the night and sleep is constantly disturbed.
Gozal’s study indicates that many children are able to stop taking medications to for ADHD once they are diagnosed and treated for such sleep problems sleep apnea: "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."
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