2007年VOA标准英语-Kids' Snoring Can Lead to Serious Health Proble

By Carol Pearson
Washington
18 September 2007 

A lot of studies have examined adult sleep problems, such as sleep apnea, a condition that can lead to heart attack or stroke.  But now researchers are looking at problems that children, even infants, can have in getting a good night's sleep.  VOA's Carol Pearson has more.

Six-year-old Timmy Vale is an energetic little boy, but his mother, Kris, was concerned about his sleep. "I noticed his really heavy breathing and snoring.  And I noticed every now and then when I'd wake up in the middle of the night, I'd hear him just go, 'gasp¹, gasp'."

Dr. Sumit Bhargava, examines Timmy, saying, "Stick your tongue out and say 'ahh' as loudly as you can."

Dr. Bhargava, at Yale University, found in addition to the snoring, Timmy's tonsils were enlarged. "Children who have obstructive sleep apnea, and they go to sleep, they tend to either partially² close or completely close their airway³ off," he explains.

With sleep apnea people literally⁴ stop breathing during their sleep.  Extra tissue, tonsils or a large tongue, can close their airways⁵.  Sleep apnea can lead to heart problems and diabetes⁶.

During the day, children with sleep apnea can be groggy⁷ and unable to concentrate or they can be hyperactive. They may have difficulty learning and score lower on intelligence tests. 

So early diagnosis⁸ is critical.  Timmy went to a sleep center at Yale-New Haven⁹ Children's Hospital in the eastern state of Connecticut. A nurse attaches electrodes to Timmy's body to measure his brain activity. 

Dr. Bhargava comments, "We also look at how they breathe, how fast they breathe, whether they stop breathing, whether the oxygen level goes down, whether their limbs move excessively at night."

Once Timmy falls asleep, a computer starts recording¹⁰ the data. 

Dr. Bhargava found the loud snores contributed to restlessness, and Timmy woke up more often than most children his age. He also determined¹¹ that Timmy's sleep apnea is mild, so he decided¹² not to remove his tonsils.  But the doctors says he will continue to monitor the boy's sleep.

Babies are diagnosed differently.  Even infants can have sleep problems, but specialists say detecting them is tricky¹³.

"They don't have the adult sleep stages so you need more visual cues to help determine stage of sleep," says Samantha Kasven. She is the sleep laboratory coordinator¹⁴ at a hospital in Denver, Colorado. The lab uses a camera to focus on the baby's eyes to see how deeply the baby is sleeping. 

Dr. Robert Ballard says it is important to document every movement of a baby's sleep. "Until you actually monitor it and record it, and sit down and record it on a computer screen, you might not have a very accurate idea as to what is actually going on."

Infants diagnosed with an adult sleep disorder¹⁵ may have corrective surgery.  Dr. Ballard finds that oxygen treatment eliminates the need for most surgeries on infants.  Dr. Bhargava adds that if an infant has some physical obstruction¹⁶, surgery may still be needed. 

1 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

2 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

3 airway   

n.空中航线，通风口

参考例句：

• Lay them on their side and ensure the airway is unobstructed.让他们侧躺着，并确保呼吸道畅通。
• There is a purple airway in London Airport.伦敦机场里有一条皇家专用飞机跑道。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

6 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

7 groggy   

adj.体弱的；不稳的

参考例句：

• The attack of flu left her feeling very groggy.她患流感后非常虚弱。
• She was groggy from surgery.她手术后的的情况依然很不稳定。

8 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

9 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

10 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

11 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

14 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

15 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

16 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。