Snoring and Sleep apnea, is it so inflammatory?

From Dr. Susarla....

Snoring and Sleep apnea, is it so inflammatory?

A recent article in the journal Chest summarizes the association of breathing problems during sleep with multiple other medical conditions in children, raising concerns about how dangerous snoring may be.

Excerpted below: Among the many articles on childhood sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in the last several years, there is a recurring theme: an array of comorbidities. Whether the disorder is defined as habitual snoring, upper airway resistance syndrome, or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), studies have consistently linked SDB in children with seemingly unrelated symptoms of neuropsychologic deficits, obesity, cardiovascular abnormalities, parasomnias, and inflammation.

In addition, there appears to be a genetic association for childhood SDB. In the current issue of CHEST (see page 519), Li and colleagues1 have performed a large-scale population survey of symptom clusters and have demonstrated that all of these comorbid symptoms of SDB are increased in a population of children with habitual snoring. Their study in > 6,000 children aged 5 to 14 years with habitual snoring suggests an association of SDB with genetic influences, BMI, neuropsychologic problems, and inflammation, including recent upper-respiratory infection, allergic rhinitis, tonsillitis, and sinusitis. Do these clinical features relate to a single mechanism?

Chest September 2010 138:469-471
http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/content/138/3/469.full