SLEEP MEDICINE

As the science of sleep has become better understood, we have seen sleep medicine develop as a new specialty. New medicines to help us sleep, and to prevent and arouse more quickly from sleep are being introduced each year. In part regulations in various countries to reduce work hours for physicians in training have been fueled by a greater understanding of the relationship between sleep deprivation and performance. In this issue of ADC, investigators from Belgium, explore the association between obesity in children and sleep-disordered breathing. They use nocturnal polysomnography to differentiate children with primary snoring from those with obstructive apnoea and central sleep apnoea. Not surprisingly, they found that the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnoea was quite common. More disturbing, however, was that approximately 10% of children had central sleep apnoea and it was associated with significant oxygen desaturation. I find it difficult to decide which children with a history of snoring should be referred for further diagnostic testing. Unfortunately, given the prevalence of obesity, and the significant decline in tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy rates over the past …