A study1 has recently been published in the European Journal of Paedeatric Dentistry about children with Sleep-Related Breathing Disorders (SRBDs), and the effect on their Neurocognitive development.
It concluded –
The current meta-analysis2 showed that subjects with SRBD performed worse than healthy controls in most of the WISC domains investigated. These results suggest that mouth breathing may have a detrimental effect on neurocognitive development in children.
This is not news to those of us who have been involved in SRBDs for a long time. In fact it has been in the scientific literaturs for over 130 years. Political Correctness has dramatically changed the way we write, including in scientific publications, since then, so don’t be surprised (or offended) by the description below. I quote from the British Medical Journal, from September 1889; the article was titled “On some causes of Backwardness and Stupidity in Children”3 by Dr William Hill –
The stupid looking lazy child who frequently suffers from headache at school, breathes through his mouth instead of his nose, snores and is restless at night, and wakes up with a dry mouth in the morning, is well worthy of the solicitous attention of the school medical officer.
Even then, Dr Hill recognised these problems as being associated with poor sleep, snoring and mouth breathing. Since then there have been many studies, and we have learned much more about how mouth breathing and snoring in children stunts the growth of the brain during the most important growing years.
Snoring, Mouth Breathing and Reduced Airways all reduce the the flow of oxygen and other important chemicals to the brain, as well as altering the balance of many of the body’s hormone systems, including Human Growth Hormone. All of this results in the stunting of growth of the brain, which is demonstrated as reduced grey matter in the brain.
All of this can cause a wide range of neurocognitive problems including –
- poor focus
- poor grades at school
- sleepiness during the day
- headaches
- morning sluggishness (do you have to drag them out of bed to avoid being late for school)
- hyperactivity
- behaviour problems
- bedwetting
- and many more
Some of these are often confused with a diagnosis of ADHD.
So if you know a child with any of these symptoms, you need to consider the possibility that they are snoring, mpouth breathing, or have other breathing problems in their sleep. The sooner such airway problems are sorted out, the better the child will grow, and the healthier they will be.
At Mountains TMJ and Dental Sleep Medicine, working with other highly trained and qualified professionals, we can help to open the airway and teach proper tongue posture and tone, and help young children grow to be the healthiest young person possible.
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2 – A “meta-analysis” is the highest standard of publication, because it reviews the literature, seeking out the highest level of research studies and compares and contrasts them, and develops a combined summary. This summary shows what the bulk of the evidence demonstrates, and guides the consensus of opinion.
3 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2155685/pdf/brmedj04355-0021.pdf
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