Children are precious and innocent lives that must be treated with utmost care but if there are threatening conditions such as sleep apnea, we must be alerted and educate ourselves about its nature.
So, can sleep apnea kill a child? Yes, sleep apnea can potentially kill a child. Sleep apnea causes difficulty in breathing and repetitive short pauses in heartbeats which can turn fatal if worst comes to worst.
Interrupted breathing and paused heartbeats can result in other medical problems that affects the heart and the brain the most and that is what sleep apnea does to our bodies, even children.
Obstructive sleep apnea makes children more prone to different illnesses mainly attacking the brain or heart.
It also results in worsened ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) which may not be healthy for the child. They are also more prone to insomnia and hypersomnia with sleep apnea.
Being insomniac will also bring in more threats to your child’s health but also, having hypersomnia is risky as it can affect the brain functionality. The temper or mood may change more often than usual too.
Having sleep apnea will decrease the child’s ability to focus and will make them unconsciously irritable which can leave them vulnerable to accidents and similar threats.
In a sense, what sleep apnea brings is what can kill a child. The conditions sleep apnea brings is a terrible thing for children to handle, if it’s bad for adults, it’s worse for children.
After all, most studies state that sleep apnea is usually an “accompanying disease” because it is known to be come with another serious disease so it is more likely that the accompanying disease with sleep apnea can kill.
There are already reported cases of adults dying from sleep apnea which means children are more at risk since most of the time, they will not be aware of their own symptoms which can leave it untreated.
If you have a history of sleep apnea, you should already check if your child might have one since the problem can be hereditary even after surgeries. Read on to learn how deadlier sleep apnea can be.
Why sleep apnea can kill a child
Children having sleep apnea is no simple situation that one must overlook. The reason why sleep apnea is more dangerous compared to other illnesses is that it’s often mistaken for as a normal condition.
But it’s not, sleep apnea is complicated and further complicates existing conditions a child may already have. Once again, it is an accompanying disease and here is the list of those accompanying diseases that can be deadly for children.
- Heart failure
- May lead to fatal conditions such as brain damages or even death
- Heart attack
- It may be rare for children, but potency increases with the risk of sleep apnea
- Irregular heartbeat
- Worsens the ability to breathe
- Can trigger anxiety
- Stroke
- Can leave permanent damage
- May lead to paralysis
- Depression
- Not an easy condition to treat. The rate of depression among children is rapidly increasing in recent years and sleep apnea has contributed to the cause
- Diabetes
- Children can get diabetes because of how sleep apnea affects the way the body functions
- High Blood Pressure
- Aside from their physical health, this can also affect their mental health and relationship with people around them including their academic performances.
- Increases ADHD
- Sleep apnea reduces the ability to focus which is what happens when a child has ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
- Having a lack of control to focus can lead to frustration which is not healthy for children
- Headaches
- Children may wake up with a bad headache which will lead to other problems listed here
- Lack of daily energy
- Children’s energy will be reduced since they are unable to sleep well.
- Seizures
- Sleep apnea patients are more prone to seizures during sleep compared to epilepsy patients without sleep apnea. Even children can get seizures which can turn out worse.
The thing is, sleep apnea, if left untreated or worsened by other factors, can lead to death. Its risks can be fatal and leave permanent damage or horrific incidents such as death which is what we must avoid at all costs.
If diagnosed with sleep apnea, one must consider treating the problem as soon as possible in order to prevent any unwanted scenarios related to health.
How to prevent sleep apnea from killing a child
Children should be healthy and must be cured of illnesses. No one should be in pain, but the older we get, there will be a higher chance of getting sick but children should be spared from the struggle as early as possible.
Leaving sleep apnea untreated with a child will lead to more pain in the future, so it’s best that we lessen their pain right now. There are now treatments that can fix sleep apnea which can save your child.
- Rapid Maxillary Expansion
- The treatment meant for children with obstructive sleep apnea. This process places an expandable brace on the roof of the mouth that increases the width of the upper jaw (maxilla).
- Over time, parents can adjust the brace using a special key to increase the amount of pressure for the teeth.
- Jaw Advancement Surgery
- For teenagers and adults. This is included if you refer to your teenage children. This process will surgically break the jaw bones, moved forward and then fixed properly with screws and plates and will change the person’s facial structure or profile.
- It might take months to recover.
- CPAP Machine Treatment
- Works for any age. Stands for “Continuous Positive Airway Pressure device”
- The diagnosed child will have to use a mask connected to a machine that will force air to the obstructed airway from the oropharyngeal.
- The mask placed over the mouth or nose will blow air into the airway to help keep it open during sleep. Highly recommended and proven effective by a majority of sleep apnea patient.
- Surgical Airway Advancement
- Similar to the 2nd example. Bones of the upper and lower jaw will be repositioned in a way that will relieve airway obstruction.
- In case the sleep apnea requires further complicated treatments and if the doctor deems the child can handle it, this may be considered.
Children may not know they are suffering from a condition yet but letting sleep apnea develop and be carried into adulthood will expose them to risk of deadly conditions so as early as possible, fix the problem.
How to tell if your child has sleep apnea that can kill
One of the most common ways to identify sleep apnea is by conducting a “sleep study” wherein the child will have to stay in a center where doctors and nurses would be observing their sleeping habits.
Not only the sleeping behavior, but other factors that could be a sign of sleep apnea as well. Here’s a list of sleep apnea signs to watch out for if you are not ready to go for a sleep study yet.
- Heavy snoring
- Maybe, it can be a sign of fatigue but snoring loudly and usually can be a sign of sleep apnea.
- Snoring may be “common” but if your child is snoring loudly most of the time and continuously, that’s a sign of sleep apnea.
- Sleeping in unusual positions
- Being uncomfortable in their sleep can cause a child to sleep in unusual positions
- Sleepwalking or even “talking”
- This is a rare sign, but it can also point to other conditions that must be checked immediately.
- Heavy breathing during sleep
- If they’re not snoring, pay attention if they are having a hard time breathing in their sleep.
- Gasping for air during sleep
- The feeling of drowning without knowing it and suddenly you’re out of air. Pay attention to your children’s sleeping behavior.
- Insomnia
- If your child has trouble sleeping, it can be because of the difficult to breathe caused by sleep apnea which results in insomnia.
- Hypersomnia
- If your child is struggling to stay awake in the morning and it happens almost on a daily basis, it can be brought by sleep apnea
- Waking up with a headache
- Sleep apnea can disturb the body’s “charging” state. Since the child can’t sleep well, their body will use energy for means that can help you breathe which may lead to headaches.
- If your child complains about headaches the moment they wake up and it’s becoming common, get them checked for sleep apnea or observe other symptoms.
- Waking up with a dry mouth
- With sleep apnea, the child tends to snore and keep their mouth open when gasping for air which leads to a dried up mouth once they awaken.
- Decreased ability to focus
- Sleep apnea can give lack of sleep which will also result in difficulty to focus on anything
- Feeling uncomfortable
- The lack of energy due to sleep apnea can make a child feel uncomfortable and irritable without their knowledge. They can be unconsciously moody
- Suddenly stop breathing during sleep
- Pay close attention when your child is sleeping within your sights, if they “breathe less” or stops breathing during sleep, it’s an obvious sign of sleep apnea.
There are three types of sleep apnea that a child may be diagnosed with.
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- The most common sleep apnea that can be present in all ages. When the breathing is obstructed due to various factors, is it because of obstructive sleep apnea which may require surgery
- Children are most likely to be diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea or OSA in short.
- Central sleep apnea
- When the brain fails to send the proper signals to the body to command it to “breathe”, it is because of central sleep apnea
- Complex sleep apnea syndrome
- This is the combination of the first two sleep apneas and also poses higher risks than a normal obstructed sleep apnea.
- It may also be more difficult to treat this not knowing the major cause of the condition
What other factors can make sleep apnea dangerous for children
There are plenty of factors that can make sleep apnea worse or become the cause of it. Watch out for these factors that your children might be exposed to.
- Obesity or being overweight
- Can make breathing difficult even while asleep or not moving. Make sure you keep your child on a healthy and balanced diet to prevent worsening the risks of sleep apnea.
- Hypothyroidism
- The condition wherein your body does not produce enough thyroid hormones, which is needed to control how to use energy received from food through metabolism. Bad metabolism can affect heartbeat and breathing.
- Acromegaly
- Opposite of hypothyroidism, acromegaly produces too much growth hormones which can affect your overall health including breathing.
- Allergies
- There are certain allergies that can worsen sleep apnea. Allergies that result with difficulty in breathing are the likes.
- Sedations
- If your child is being sedated for several reasons or using specific medications, it may indirectly worsen sleep apnea and make it more deadly
- Being male
- Observations reveal that males, even male children, tend to have sleep apnea more than females.
Other natural causes of sleep apnea can be a thick neck, narrow throat and having a round head. Avoid triggering the child’s allergies or get medications for other conditions to cure the sleep apnea.
Related Questions
- Can my child inherit my obstructive sleep apnea?
Yes, sleep apnea can be hereditary. Studies say that sleep apnea can run in the family but as of the moment, there is no clear pattern yet that explains how.
Usually, it might be related to the natural formation of how the bodies are designed.
For example, the parent with sleep apnea had narrow lungs which can be inherited by the child, also increasing the risk of sleep apnea.
- Does sleep apnea happen every night?
Yes, sleep apnea happen every night. In fact, it attacks every time we sleep regardless of the time. It can cause us to stop breathing for 10 seconds to 2 minutes which is already dangerous.
The pauses can happen at least 400 times when taking a full sleep at night.
