Clinical observations supported by experimental data suggest that sleep and headache share common anatomical, physiological and biochemical substrates, as shown by the possibility of coexisting also in the same patient of headache and sleep disorders and by their relative frequency in the general population and in children. Sleep represents the only well-documented behavioural state related to the occurrence of some headache syndromes while headache may cause various degrees of sleep disruption and seems to be associated with several sleep disturbances either in adults or in children. Children with migraine headaches appear to have a range of sleep disturbances: insufficient sleep, bruxism, and maternal co-sleeping are significantly more frequent compared to children from a normative community sample. Children with migraine experienced greater sleep disturbances in all domains including longer sleep onset delay, more bedtime resistance, shorter sleep duration, more daytime sleepiness, more night wakings, greater sleep anxiety, more parasomnias, and more sleep-disordered breathing. Even though several studies demonstrated a high prevalence of sleep disorders in headache subjects, sleep disorders are not seen as a comorbid or causative factor for headache. While patients complain about their sleep disorders, these manifestations are usually considered as “common insomnia” of psychological origin and tend to be considered not relevant by physicians. Early sleep disorders have been also related to psychiatric co-morbidity and involved in the endurance of headache in children and adolescence; in an 8-year follow-up study it has been found that the most frequent comorbid disorders at the onset of the headache were sleep disorders (12%) followed by anxiety (11%); of the 9 patients with sleep disorders as comorbid factor at the onset of headache, at follow-up 6 had enduring headache and 3 were headache-free.

HEADACHE AND SLEEP DISORDERS IN CHILDHOOD

CAROTENUTO, Marco;
2007

Abstract

Clinical observations supported by experimental data suggest that sleep and headache share common anatomical, physiological and biochemical substrates, as shown by the possibility of coexisting also in the same patient of headache and sleep disorders and by their relative frequency in the general population and in children. Sleep represents the only well-documented behavioural state related to the occurrence of some headache syndromes while headache may cause various degrees of sleep disruption and seems to be associated with several sleep disturbances either in adults or in children. Children with migraine headaches appear to have a range of sleep disturbances: insufficient sleep, bruxism, and maternal co-sleeping are significantly more frequent compared to children from a normative community sample. Children with migraine experienced greater sleep disturbances in all domains including longer sleep onset delay, more bedtime resistance, shorter sleep duration, more daytime sleepiness, more night wakings, greater sleep anxiety, more parasomnias, and more sleep-disordered breathing. Even though several studies demonstrated a high prevalence of sleep disorders in headache subjects, sleep disorders are not seen as a comorbid or causative factor for headache. While patients complain about their sleep disorders, these manifestations are usually considered as “common insomnia” of psychological origin and tend to be considered not relevant by physicians. Early sleep disorders have been also related to psychiatric co-morbidity and involved in the endurance of headache in children and adolescence; in an 8-year follow-up study it has been found that the most frequent comorbid disorders at the onset of the headache were sleep disorders (12%) followed by anxiety (11%); of the 9 patients with sleep disorders as comorbid factor at the onset of headache, at follow-up 6 had enduring headache and 3 were headache-free.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11591/225153
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