Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0029713 (immaturity)
 4,335 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Sleep problems are common in childhood. A distinction is made between problems in which polysomnography is abnormal (i.e., the parasomnias, sleep apnea and narcolepsy) and problems that are behavioral in origin and have normal polysomnography. The parasomnias--sleep terrors, somnambulism and enuresis--appear to be related to central nervous system immaturity and are often outgrown. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is frequently missed in children and can often be cured through surgery. Behavioral sleep problems may be overcome after parents make interventions. Physicians can be of great assistance to these families by recommending techniques to parents that have been shown to be effective.
 ...
PMID:Sleep disorders and sleep problems in childhood. 1120 93

Several studies in the last ten years have been directed towards a better understanding of sleep disorders in childhood. Defining sleep disorders in this age is difficult in dependence of relevant differences in sleep patterns at subsequent developmental stages. In new-borns total sleep time is fairly equal during night and day. Normally, day-time sleep gradually decreases over the first three years of life, such that night-time sleep progressively increases till the age of four, and similar to adult sleep-time by adolescence. The most frequent sleep disorders observed in childhood are parasomnias, that, thought to be a CNS sign of immaturity, tend to be quite predictable, recurring in the same families and not even influenced by environmental stimuli. These disorders included: a) arousal disorders, that generally emerge from delta sleep or relate to arousals occurring during NREM sleep, very common in childhood and fairly common in adulthood either; b) somnambulism and somniloquy, that have many common characteristics: first of all, they have the potential to generate a great sense of discomfort and fear in parents watching a child who suddenly sits up in bed eyes-opened but 'unseeing'; c) nocturnal enuresis, that is substantially not a problem of depth of sleep, despite many parents believe. Although narcolepsy is more common in adolescence, many studies have demonstrated that narcoleptic symptoms may begin in childhood. Narcoleptic symptoms in children are similar in their appearance to those predominant in adults, but their expression may be different because of CNS maturational factors. Historical descriptions of the OSAS evidenced since the beginning the importance of neurobehavioral complications associated with the cessation of airflow at the nose and mouth accompanied by respiratory effort, deriving from upper airway obstruction which occurs during sleep.
 ...
PMID:Sleep disorders in childhood: a review. 1216 81

Sleep-disordered breathing includes disorders of breathing that affect airway patency, e.g. obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, and also conditions that affect respiratory drive (central sleep disorders) or cause hypoventilation, either as a direct central effect or due to peripheral muscle weakness. Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is an increasingly-recognised clinical entity affecting up to 5.7% of children, which, if left untreated, is associated with adverse effects on growth and development including deleterious cognitive and behavioural outcomes. Evidence exists also that untreated OSAS impacts on cardiovascular risk. Close attention should be paid to assessment and investigation of this relatively common condition, instigating early and appropriate treatment to children with OSAS. First-line treatment in younger children is adenotonsillectomy, although other treatment options available include continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP), anti-inflammatory therapies (nasal corticosteroids and anti-leukotrienes), airway adjuncts and orthodontic appliances. Central sleep-disordered breathing may be related to immaturity of respiratory control and can be associated with prematurity as well as disorders such as Prader-Willi syndrome. In some cases, central apnoeas occur as part of a central hypoventilation disorder, which may be inherited, e.g. Congenital Central hypoventilation Syndrome, or acquired, e.g. Arnold-Chiari malformation, brain tumour, or spinal injury. The treatments of central breathing problems depend upon the underlying aetiology.
...
PMID:Investigation and management of childhood sleep apnoea. 2447 Jul 27