The Connection between Deep Sleep and Bed-wetting
By: Elizabeth Radisson
Children who are five or six years old and are persistent bed-wetters have long been thought by the medical community to suffer from a sleep disorder. Recent studies appear to show that this is not always the case and that typically the children are deep sleepers who do not awaken when the message is sent from the brain that the bladder is full.
Controlled laboratory studies point toward that deep sleeping is responsible in part for bed-wetting, but is not the main cause.
A study at Albert Einstein College of Medicine recorded the electroencephalography (EEG) of the participating children. This is a monitoring of the brain’s electrical activity throughout sleep. Children suffering from various sleep disorders were recorded by the EEG as having irregular electrical patterns.
The children who suffered just from enuresis did not display abnormal brain activity throughout sleep, supporting the thought that sleep disorders and bed-wetting are not linked, though not waking when the bladder is full is a deviation from the norm.
The medical community do not know just what causes enuresis, though complete bladder control is a slow process that takes time, with no definitive age of mastery for all children. Some children master their bladder at night at a very early age while others take significantly more time. Daytime bladder control is typically achieved first while children are awake and alert, able to respond immediately to a full bladder.
Many parts of the body must work together in regulating bladder function and urine control including the nerves, muscles, brain and spinal chord.
When full, the bladder sends a message to the brain to awake. A deep sleeper does not respond to the brain's message and the body attempts to contain the urine in the bladder until the sleeper awakes. Typically, where enuresis is involved, the body is not coordinated enough yet to control the urine.
Some children have a smaller than normal bladder, or one that is not yet matured enough to maintain consistent nighttime bladder control. Still other children create more urine and the bladder is not capable of containing it through the night. Physical problems such as diabetes and urinary tract infections can also contribute to bed-wetting.
Studies have shown there may be a genetic link to bed-wetting. According to the National Kidney Foundation, a child with one parent that was a bed wetter has a 4 in 10 chance of also suffering with nocturnal enuresis. Having both parents who were bed wetters raises it to a 7 in 10 chance.
Article Source: http://www.ezarticles.info
|
