Sleep apnea in children can reduce their growth and even lead to development and learning problems, a pediatrician said yesterday, urging parents to keep an eye out for the disorder’s common symptoms.
A boy had grown less than 2cm in one semester when he was in the second grade of elementary school, so his parents were worried that he might be suffering from some type of growth disorder and took him to a doctor for examinations.
The pediatrician who treated the boy, Reshining Clinic deputy superintendent Pan Chun-shen (潘俊伸), said the boy had a history of allergic rhinitis and tonsil hypertrophy problems, and often slept early, but would snore and wake up easily, and sometimes wet the bed.
Pan diagnosed the boy with sleep apnea — a disorder in which a person’s breathing is repeatedly interrupted during sleep — and the development of his bones was about two years behind normal.
“Children’s sleeping quality significantly affects their growth and development,” he said. “Many parents send their children to bed early, but if the sleep quality is poor, or if they have disorders such as sleep apnea, that can cause endocrinous disorders or growth hormone deficiency, and even affect their height.”
Pan said children with sleep apnea experience repeated pauses in breathing, causing blood oxygen levels to drop and making them very light sleepers, and that the main symptom in children under five years old is snoring, while older children might display inability to concentrate, hyperactivity, nocturia (excessive urination at night) and growth retardation.
Studies show that about 10 to 30 percent of pre-school children regularly snore during sleep and about 1 to 3 percent have from sleep apnea, he said, adding that about 40 percent of elementary-school students who receive the bottom 10 percent of grades have sleeping disorders.
Pan urged parents who want their children to grow normally to make sure their kids get good quality sleep, balanced nutrition and sufficient exercise, and to take them to see a doctor if they detect symptoms of sleeping disorders.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
RSS