New York City, NY (PRWEB) October 04, 2012
The New York University (NYU) College of Dentistry will be hosting a sleep apnea awareness Conference, “The Silent Airway Problem that Can Impact a Child's Brain Development” on October 6, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., at 345 E. 24th St. in the Saklad Auditorium. The event is open to the public and will focus on the role of sleep in health, brain development, and well-being, from beginning to infancy. A question and answer session for the press will take place following the event at 6:00 p.m. One-on-one interviews are available in regards to this subject matter and study, upon request.
“The Silent Airway Problem that Can Impact a Child's Brain Development” conference is part of the official launch of the American Association of Physiological Medicine and Dentistry(AAPMD). The AAPMD is an organization dedicated to studying the role of sleep disordered breathing (SDB), disturbed breathing in health, brain development and well-being. The conference will be a multidisciplinary symposium for physicians, dentists, healthcare practitioners, educators, and the public to take part in.
SDB is a general term for breathing difficulties that occur during sleep. The symptoms include snoring, which is usually accompanied by mouth breathing and sleep apnea. SDB reportedly peaks from two to six years of age, but also occurs in younger children and infants. According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Health and Neck Surgery, “About 1 in 10 children snore regularly and 2 to 4 percent have sleep apnea.” The percentage of children’s mouth breathing and snoring is currently approaching 20 percent.
The goal of the AAPMD is to stimulate awareness and early care intervention for disturbed breathing issues in children, by holding events. The AAPMD is a multi-disciplinary group formed to build a bridge between physicians, dentists, other health care practitioners and the public to provide fuller, integrated care for children and adults, and focuses on issues relating to Sleep Disorders, Craniofacial Pain, Child Growth and Development, Chronic Inflammation and Sports and Academic Performance.
“We found that children with SDB were from 40 to 100 percent more likely to develop neurobehavioral problems by age of seven, compared with children without such breathing problems,” said Karen Bonuck, Ph.D., Author of the March 2012 Pediatrics article, "Sleep Disordered Breathing in a Population-Based Cohort: Behavioral Effects at 4 and 7 Years."
According to research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, “ a study of more than 11,000 children followed for over six years has found that young children with SDB are prone to developing behavioral difficulties such as hyperactivity and aggressiveness, as well as emotional symptoms and difficulty with peer relationships.”
For more information on the AAPMD or to register for “The Silent Airway Problem that Can Impact a Child's Brain Development” conference, visit https://www.aapmd.org/. "Our goal is to spread as much awareness as possible and to collaborate with as many health professionals and experts as we can, in order to help the children of our future," Dr. Michael Gelb, DDS, MS, Founder of the AAPMD said. "This is something that can not only impact our children developmentally and behaviorally, but it can also impact their health and could possibly have fatal effects.”
SleepTest.com is an online resource dedicated to educating the public on the dangers of untreated sleep apnea and treatment options. The goal is to offer a free preliminary online screening that can help identify people who may be at risk for this sleep disorder. The sleep test evaluation is quick and easy, and can be completed in about 5 minutes. SleepTest.com has partnered with dental sleep medicine giant, Sleep Group Solutions, to help offer the most comprehensive dental sleep medicine solution in the industry.
