ADHD and Sleep Disorders
Symptoms May be a Warning Sign of Sleep Problems
As many as a third of the children in the United States suffer from poor sleep, and the estimates for adults is also high. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) states that 50 to 70 million Americans have sleep problems severe enough to affect their health and ability to function. The primary symptoms of ADHD, hyperactivity, inattention, and distractibility, are also classic symptoms of sleep disorders.
While most studies on the link between sleep and ADHD have focused on children, the National Sleep Foundation points out that adults with sleep disorders may also be misdiagnosed as ADHD. With too little sleep, adults are likely to be lethargic, fatigued, while sleep deprived children often become hyperactive. The hyperactivity may be a result of the body's attempt to override the sleepiness.
What the Research Shows
Is it ADHD or a chronic sleep problem? In a recent news release of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), Dr. Susan Shur-fen Gau, an associate professor at National Taiwan University's College of Medicine says, "In some patients with ADHD, symptoms are caused or exaggerated by primary sleep disorders."
Gau was the lead researcher of a study which included 281 children ages 10 to 17 who were diagnosed with ADHD. Regardless how severe their ADHD symptoms, kids in the study were two to three times more likely to have sleep problems than kids who were not diagnosed with ADHD. Gau also found that night terrors, teeth grinding, snoring, and nightmares were more common in these children.
Gau and her colleagues believe treating sleep problems can improve the ADHD symptoms and that all children with ADHD should be screened for sleep disorders.
Types of Sleep Disorders
- Some of the more common types of sleep disorders include:
- Child Sleep Apnea
- Insomnia
- Nightmares
- Restless Legs
- Sleep Apnea
- Sleepwalking
- Snoring
(Source: American Academy of Sleep Medicine)
Time Matters
ADHD symptoms can also result from poor sleep habits. Even when an adult or child is sleeping every night, the number of hours and quality of sleep are very important.
Dr. E. Juulia Paavonen, of the University of Helsinki, Finland, headed a study of 7-8 year old children to investigate the link between sleep problems and ADHD symptoms. The study was reported in Medscape News on April 28, 2009.
Paavonen and colleagues found that children were most likely have hyperactivity and attention problems if they got fewer than 7.7 hours of sleep per night. The problem with these children was not a medical sleep disorder, but simply too little nightly sleep.
More time spent sleeping could reverse some of the ADHD symptoms these children developed. In a European study discussed in the same article, kids' cognitive test scores showed major improvement within one week of increasing their sleep by just 30 minutes a night. Keeping a journal to monitor sleep habits may help determine if ADHD symptoms are related to sleep.
Know the Signs of Sleep Disorders
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, signs that a child may have a sleep disorder include:
- You spend too much time 'helping' your child fall asleep
- Your child wakes up repeatedly during the night
- Your child snores very loudly or struggles to breathe during sleep
- Your child who used to stay dry at night begins to wet the bed.
Sources:
Cassels, Caroline; Lack of Sleep in Children Linked to ADHD Symptoms; Medscape Medical News; April 28, 2009
Dador, Denise; Sleep Disorders Often Mistaken for ADHD; APR 18, 2008, KABC, Los Angeles
Institute of Medicine; Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem; Institute of Medicine; News Release, April 4, 2006
Mceever, Kevin; American Academy of Sleep Medicine; News Release, May 1, 2009
Resources:
American Academy of Sleep Medicine
More Sleep Could Help Many with ADHD
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