Undue pressure can cause breathing problems: Experts

LUCKNOW: Forcing children to outperform can result in not just stress but breathing trouble too, say experts.

Specialists at the 4th conference of South-East Asia Academy Of Sleep Medicine on Friday said breathing trouble during sleep had been reported in nonobese people and even children.

“The airway lumen is reduced due to stress, even in a non-obese person. It has been clinically proven that stress results in internal swelling in the body and children are also its victims,” said Dr Arvind Tripathi, HoD, prosthodontics at Saraswati Dental College.

Dr Tripathi explained that children who were overburdened with studies were constantly under stress because their parents wanted them to excel, without giving a thought to the consequent strain or tension. “The same is with professionals who chase timelines and suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), even though they might not be obese,” said Dr Tripathi.

Dr BP Singh of Midland Hospital said even paediatricians were not aware of this problem that children suffered from. “The global assessment suggests one in every 7 people in the world has OSA. So in Uttar Pradesh, the number of OSA patients will be 72 lakh and in Lucknow at least about 1.15 lakh,” he said.

“Among children, the prevalence of OSA is 4 to 5%,” said Dr Singh.

OSA occurs when something partly or completely blocks your upper airway during sleep. OSA causes severe symptoms, such as excessive daytime drowsiness and is associated with a significant cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Prof Surya Kant, HoD, respiratory medicine department in the King George’s Medical University, Prof Pooran Chand, Prof SV Singh of the department of prosthodontics and other experts shared their view on the problem of OSA.