In the study, 60% of hypertensive children had a condition called sleep disordered breathing (SDB). SDB is characterized by short periods of upper airway obstructions that are complete (apnea) or partial (hypopnea), or a longer period of insufficient air movement (obstructive hypoventilation).
“SDB is important because it can result in daytime sleepiness, limited attention span, poor school performance, hyperactivity, poor growth and increased blood pressure in the lungs,” said Alisa Acosta, lead author of the study.
“We know there's a link in adults between obstructive sleep apnea – the most common of the SDBs – and high blood pressure, so we were curious to see if the same link exists in our pediatric population,” she said.
In obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a person's airway repeatedly collapses or partially collapses during sleep. This results in brief periods of not breathing (apnea) followed by sudden attempts to breathe. The sleep disruptions lead to daytime fatigue and reduced cognitive performance.