A
Adolescent Sleep Problems
Around the time of puberty onset, teenagers experience a physiologically-based delay in sleep onset (approximately a two-hour delay in sleep onset and wake up times). This delay, combined with certain environmental factors (homework, after school jobs, athletics, busy social schedules and earlier school start times), leads to insufficient sleep and significant sleepiness in many adolescents.
Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (ASPS)
Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (ASPS) occurs when a person's "body clock" (i.e., circadian rhythm) is set to fall asleep very early in the afternoon. Individuals with ASPS wake up very early (or during the middle of the night) and are unable to fall back asleep.
Ambulatory
Having the ability to walk and / or run.
Apnea
Complete cessation of airflow at the nose and / or mouth.
B
Bedtime Refusal
Children may engage in any number of behaviors to delay bedtime. Common behaviors include stalling or making excuses ("I need to go to the bathroom.") to avoid going to bed. Other children may get up out of bed soon after getting into bed. Bedtime refusal is characteristic of several different sleep disorders including nighttime fears, limit-setting sleep disorder and delayed sleep phase syndrome.
Breathing Disorders Associated with Neuromuscular Disorders
Certain muscle diseases such as congenital myopathies, muscular dystrophies and hypotonia increase the likelihood of obstructive sleep apnea and sleep disordered breathing.
C
Central Hypoventilation Syndrome
This syndrome is a disorder of the central nervous system in which the control of breathing is absent or impaired. Breathing during waking periods is generally intact but sleeping periods may require mechanical ventilation assistance.
Central Sleep Apnea
Central sleep apnea is a cessation of airflow without any respiratory effort (attempt to breathe).
Chronic Respiratory Failure
A prolonged or persistent condition of respiratory (breathing) dysfunction resulting in oxygenation (supply of oxygen) or carbon dioxide elimination (in the circulating blood) at a rate that is not sufficient to meet the demands of the body is called chronic respiratory failure. It may be severe enough to impair or threaten the function of vital organs (respiratory failure).
Circadian Rhythms
Circadian rhythms are our bodies natural rhythms that influence a number of biological / physiological processes, such as sleep and wake patterns, body temperature and certain hormonal changes. Circadian rhythms generally follow a cycle that lasts approximately 24 hours.
Confusional Arousals
Most common in infants and toddlers, confusional arousals occur when a person is in a transitional state between sleep and awake. These events may start with crying and thrashing around in bed. If a child is having a confusional arousal, he or she may appear to be awake, confused and upset, but will resist attempts to be comforted or consoled. A confusional arousal may last up to 30 minutes.
Craniofacial Anomalies
Birth defects such as cleft palate (opening in the roof of the mouth in which the two sides of the palate did not join together, as the unborn baby was developing) midface hypoplasia (poorly formed / underdeveloped facial structure) or micrognathia (small lower jaw) may predispose a child to sleep disordered breathing.