| |
Sleep Apnea - A New Treatment Option For Children
By Donald Saunders
Sleep apnea is estimated to affect some two to three percent of children today (getting on for two million children in the United States alone) and is particularly seen in children between the ages of about three and six.
In the vast majority of cases the main cause of sleep apnea, in this case obstructive sleep apnea, is enlarged tonsils and/or adenoids and the preferred method of treatment is surgery. However, research being carried out at the University of Louisville in Kentucky may well result in thousands of children escaping what is for many an unpleasant and often frightening procedure.
Although the removal of tonsils and/or adenoids in children was extremely common some years ago the practice was, until recently, in decline, as doctors sought out alternative treatments for childhood throat infections. However, as an increasing number of children were diagnosed with sleep apnea, tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy rapidly became a common treatment for this condition and today some estimates show that as many as ninety percent of all such operations are carried out to cure sleep apnea, rather than throat infections.
It seems, however, that this could well change in the not too distant future.
Dr Goldbart, heading a research team at the University of Louisville, has been working in this area for some time now and presented the initial findings of his work on the tonsillar tissue of children with sleep apnea in June 2004. Based on these findings, Dr Goldbart’s team proposed an alternative non-invasive treatment for mild cases of childhood sleep apnea and has since carried out a series of studies, the latest of which involved 40 children. The results have now just been published and are extremely encouraging.
The treatment involves the use of oral montelkast (sold under the brand name of Singulair) which many parents may well recognize as a common form of treatment for asthma.
In many cases of asthma breathing difficulties are caused by inflammation of the tonsils resulting from the presence of leukotriene receptors and Dr Goldbart and his team noticed that these same leukotriene receptors were present in the tonsils of children with sleep apnea. He concluded therefore that the treatment that has proved so effective in cases of asthma should also reduce inflammation and open up the airway in cases of sleep apnea, and it would appear that he is right.
It is of course still early days and a great deal more work needs to be done, including further double-blind and placebo-controlled studies. Nonetheless, his findings are indeed encouraging and may well provide an alternative to surgery for many thousands of children in the future.
Copyright 2005 Donald Saunders – http://help-me-to-sleep.com
About the Author
Donald Saunders is the author of a number of health related publications including "How To Get A Good Night’s Rest". Pick up your free copy today and discover how to cure insomnia or visit help-me-to-sleep.com and Learn more about treating sleep apnea
Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/6759.html
| If you wish to add the above article to your website or newsletters then please include the "Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/6759.html" as shown above and make it hyperlinked. |
| Some other articles by Donald Saunders | Jet Lag - Coping on arrival at your destination
With the best preparation in the world before leaving home, and having taken a few simple precautions during your flight, you will inevitably suffer the effects of jet lag, unless you also continue your "no jet lag" ...
Jet Lag - 5 In-flight Tips
The secret to combating jet lag, and arriving at your destination with little or no jet lag, lies in sound preparation ...
Jet Lag - 5 Pre-travel Steps to Reduce the effects of jet lag
Ask any regular long-haul flyer about their experience of flying and you will soon discover that everyone has a different "magic" formula for overcoming or ...
Jet Lag and the Power of Melatonin
Even though melatonin is probably the most studied and best understood natural sleep remedy for insomnia, its use is somewhat controversial; not least because melatonin has yet to be approved by any regulatory body. In addition, despite ...
Melatonin as a Dietary Supplement to Combat Insomnia
Melatonin is probably the most studied and best understood natural sleep
remedy for insomnia, and can be particularly helpful if you suffer from
initial, or sleep onset, ...
Insomnia and the use of Bright Light Therapy
The use of light as a therapeutic tool has a long history, with reports of sunlight
being used to treat depression and lethargy over 2000 ...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
