Sleep Matters

The Unrecognized Crisis in Pediatric Health

This is the first generation of children predicted to have a shorter life expectancy than previous generations. Chronic diseases are on the rise, as are many pediatric health comorbidities. This presentation will focus on the well-documented preventable, pro-inflammatory health consequences that were rare only a few decades before and cannot be explained by dietary risk factors alone. Wellness is not the same as not being sick. The future of public health must focus on early recognition and prevention, which challenges the current orthodoxy that has largely failed in the U.S. We pay almost twice as much as any country yet rank below the top fifty countries worldwide in overall health and longevity.  An evidence-based explanation will be presented with a discussion of readily attainable strategies that challenge the current disease-management approach to health. Topics discussed include:

• What is the root cause of ADHD?

• Neurocognitive and behavioral morbidity in the pediatric population

• Brain development, IQ loss, and sleep-disordered breathing

• Brain changes & Inflammation of the brain from poor quality sleep

• Crooked teeth is not a dental problem

• Craniofacial growth and development and the risks for chronic disease

  • Recurrent otitis media (ear aches)

  • Type II diabetes and obesity risk 

  • Conductive hearing loss

  • Nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting)

  • Failure to thrive

  • Mouth breathing, snoring and growth

  • Allergies & asthma: unrecognized respiratory reflux

• Maternal sleep-disordered breathing and its fetal consequences