My child snores. So what?

Here's what the data shows:

According to a study posted on the National Library of Medicine website in 2024, the conclusion was: "OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) affects the development of white matter networks in children's brains. Besides, the mediating role of white matter network properties between the OAHI and the verbal comprehension index provided neuroimaging evidence of impaired cognitive function in children with OSA."

More within that study: "Changes in white matter connectivity (such as clustering coefficients in the superior temporal gyrus) directly mediate the relationship between breathing disruption severity (measured via the obstructive apnea-hypopnea index) and lower verbal comprehension scores....

Frequent airway obstruction leads to low oxygen levels (hypoxia) and sleep fragmentation, which disrupt the structural maturation of developing nerve fiber pathways. [1, 2]"

According to another study published in 2006 concluded: "Childhood OSA is associated with deficits of IQ and executive function and also with possible neuronal injury in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. We speculate that untreated childhood OSA could permanently alter a developing child's cognitive potential."

Something to note: Children (and women) can test negative on a sleep study but still have sleep disordered breathing. Due to their low arousal thresholds, they wake or arouse (but stay asleep) from a deep sleep when there is a respiratory crisis and spend most of the night in a lighter sleep where they wouldn't be having apneas or hypopneas (which is what is being tested for for an obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis). The inability to stay in a deep sleep - when the body and brain resets, heals and grows- is still impacting their mental, cognitive and physical health and will also eventually lead, with age, to OSA.