Sleep Disorders
Many children experience sleep disorders. These range from night terrors and sleepwalking to serious breathing disorders during sleep. A few of the breathing disorders known to affect children and their sleep are listed here. Effective treatments are available for some, whereas the cause and cure for others remain unknown.
- Sleep Apneas- The Symptoms for this disorder include periodic interruption of breathing, characterized by loud, interrupted snoring. Sleep apnea is caused by the excessive relaxation of airway, a procedure called CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure. In mild cases, weight loss and preventing sufferers from sleeping on their backs can help.
- Insomnia- This is even more common than sleep apnea. One syndrome that is known to produce a profound insomnia is "restless legs with periodic movement during sleep." "Restless legs" refers to an urge to move the legs that increases during quiescence. Periodic movement during sleep, a frequent accompaniment of restless legs, is a regular twitching, usually occurring every 5-90 seconds in the legs during non-REM sleep and can also disturb sleep.
- Parasomnias- Night terrors, in which children scream during the night, sleep walking and bedwetting are some of the most common and are generally outgrown with age. Parasomnias include bruxism, a grinding of the teeth that can be treated by wearing a dental device.
- REM sleep behavior disorder- This disorder is characterized by vigorous movements occurring during REM sleep as the dreamer acts out his or her dream. The patients and those sharing the bed can be injured. Effective drug treatments, often sitn the benzodiazepine clonazepam, are available.
- Narcolepsy- This disorder is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and sudden loss of muscle tone while awake, called cataplexy. The cause of most human narcolepsy has been identified as a loss of a chemical called hypocretin.
Our sleep specialist Dr. Nanci Yuan is board certified in both Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine and Sleep Medicine. Dr. Yuan along with a certified sleep technician, provides a careful and detailed medical evaluation of your child, to find the source of the sleep problem. Sensors are used to monitor how your body acts while you sleep. Charts are made of many physical measurements, including your brain waves, heartbeats and breathing. Your sleep study provides Dr. Yuan with the data she needs to find the cause of your child's sleep problem. Some the available sleep study option are listed below:
- Overnight Sleep Study
Also called a polysomnogram. It is used to help detect a variety of sleep disorders. It is most often used to find out if a child has a sleep related breathing disorder. This group of disorders includes sleep apnea. - CPAP Study
This study is used to set the right air pressure for CPAP therapy in children with sleep apnea. - Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT)
This sleep study is used to measure how alert your child is during the day. It shows whether or not the child is able to stay awake for a defined period of time. - Nap Study (MSLT)
Doctors call this study a Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT). This is mainly used to find out if your child has narcolepsy. It charts how quickly he or she falls asleep during quiet daytime situations. It also measures how fast your child enters the stage of REM sleep. - Dr. Yuan is specially skilled in working with children with development delays or disabilities. Many of these kids either have overt genetic syndromes such as Down's, and others may have more subtle craniofacial malformations or other features that may be predisposing them to sleep-disordered breathing, which would be a very reversible cause of the neurocognitive deficits.
To schedule a sleep study please contact:
Phone:650-736-4072
Fax: 650-725-4884
General Information
- Medical Insurance Information
We participate in most area HMO's and all major health insurance plans. For some insurance plan, a referral form or referral approval from the primary care physician may be required. - Referrals and Scheduling
Your child's sleep study will be conducted at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital satellite office- located at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA. For directions to El Camino Hospital please click the following link: http://www.lpch.org/directionsParking/Maps/ElCamino.html
Useful websites for additional information
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine- The American Academy of Sleep Medicine serves to enhance the quality and effectiveness of health care fostering excellence and professionalism in the field of sleep medicine.
- National Sleep Foundation- The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public health and safety by achieving public understanding of sleep and sleep disorders, and by supporting public education, sleep-related research, and advocacy.
- 'How well did you sleep last night?'- Article on sleep disorders and insomnia from Consumer reports, Sep 08.
- Sleep Home pages-An extensive listing of sleep related organizations and bibliographies
- Sleep Research Society-The leading organization of scientists trying to unravel the function and mechanisms of sleep.
