ADHD Improved When Tonsils Removed
By Kevin Flatt
Tonsils may be one cause of ADHD. New research suggests a surprising potential treatment for at least some children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - surgical removal of the tonsils. Children in the study who had their tonsils removed showed improvements in both behavior and sleeping, and half of those diagnosed with ADHD prior to surgery no longer had the diagnosis a year later. (WebMD 03/4/2006).
Before going into this research further, some earlier facts are presented:
A child’s snore may sound cute, or even funny, but habitual snoring in children may contribute to problems ranging from bed-wetting to poor school performance. In fact, some children with sleep disorders associated with snoring are mistakenly diagnosed with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), when what they really need is a good night’s sleep. The most common reason children snore is enlarged tonsils and adenoids. (WorldNetDaily.com 21/8/2003).
Louise M. O'Brien, Ph.D., Research Fellow in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Louisville studied 87 children, ages 5 to 7, and found that children who snored performed significantly worse on tests of attention, language abilities and overall intelligence. “We found that snoring alone in the absence of any disease is associated with increased risk of cognitive problems in children,” she said. She suggested that children who snore frequently and have learning or behavioral issues should be evaluated by a sleep specialist to see whether they suffer from sleep apnea. (Science Daily 20/5/2003).
Children who have problems breathing during sleep tend to score lower on tests of mental development and intelligence than do other children their age, according to two studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Results of one of theses studies show that 5-year-old children who had frequent snoring, loud or noisy breathing during sleep, or sleep apneas observed by parents scored lower on intelligence, memory, and other standard cognitive tests than other children their age. They were also more likely to have behavioral problems. (Science Daily 8/10/2004).
"Unfortunately, the effects of poor sleep are often overlooked or misinterpreted in children. Rather than appearing sleepy like adults who are sleep deprived, children may in fact seem to be more active or even hyperactive," commented Carl E. Hunt, M.D., director of the NIH National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (NCSDR).
"One of the more remarkable findings in this study was that the neurocognitive effects were significant even among the children who had mild symptoms of sleep-disordered breathing but no actual sleep apneas," said Daniel Gottlieb, M.D., M.P.H., lead author of the study. "Parents need to be aware that their child's snoring could signal serious problems." (NIH News, National Institutes of Health 7/10/2004).
ADHD and Tonsillectomy
The following headline was published by Medical News Today on 08 Apr 2006:
Hyperactivity, Sleepiness, And ADHD Often Improved After Tonsillectomy.
The article went on to state: In fact, about half of the children in the study who were found to have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder before tonsil surgery no longer met criteria for this diagnosis one year later. Other cognitive and behavioral issues also improved. On the whole, the 78 children who had their tonsils out were much more likely than a comparison group of 27 children to have had behavior and sleep problems at the start of the study. But by the end of the study, tests showed little difference between the two groups. (Medical New Today 8/4/2006).
The research was published online in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics by a team from the University of Michigan Health System.
Tonsils and adenoids are in the back of the throat, and if infected or enlarged, they may affect one’s ability to breathe at night. In fact, most of the children in the study who were having their tonsils removed had also been diagnosed with symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, a sleep problem caused by frequent awakenings at night because of trouble breathing. Also, 11 of these children who were previously diagnosed with ADHD no longer met the criteria for diagnosis. (WorldNetDaily.com 25/4/2006).
Copyright 2007 Kevin Flatt. Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is presented for information purposes only and is in no way intended to replace professional medical care or attention by a qualified practitioner. It cannot and should not be used as a basis for diagnosis or choice of treatment.
