Sleep apnea and how to know if your child has it

Pediatric Otolaryngologist Nina Shapiro, MD, shares advice for parents on the symptoms of sleep apnea in children in order to help determine if your child has sleep apnea
Signs & Symptoms of Sleep Apnea In Children
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Sleep apnea and how to know if your child has it

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Sleep apnea in children is surprisingly common, It is something that we didn't really know much about years ago. Probably about 5 to 10 percent of kids in this country have sleep apnea. What sleep apnea is, is a progression of snoring. Snoring is the noise that you hear when you sleep, but sleep apnea is the absence of breathing during snoring. So your child is snoring, you hear silence, you hear a gasp, and then you hear snoring again. That is sleep apnea. It is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. It is caused by a number of reasons. Most common, it's from enlarged tonsils and adenoids, not necessarily from an infection. If you are concerned that your child has sleep apnea, that absolutely needs to be addressed by your doctor.

Pediatric Otolaryngologist Nina Shapiro, MD, shares advice for parents on the symptoms of sleep apnea in children in order to help determine if your child has sleep apnea

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Nina Shapiro, MD

Pediatric Otolaryngologist

Dr. Nina Shapiro is the Director of Pediatric Otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) and an Associate Professor of Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.  As the first fellowship-trained pediatric otolaryngologist at the medical center since it was founded in 1955, her presence has put UCLA 'on the map' in her field.  

A graduate of Harvard Medical School and Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences, she also completed her residency training at Harvard.  She then went on to complete additional subspecialty training in pediatric otolaryngology at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, and The Children's Hospital of San Diego.

A native of New York, Shapiro has been honored with several prestigious awards, including the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology Award for Clinical Research, the UCLA Division of Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Teaching Award, and the American Academy of Pediatrics Young Investigators Award.  She has also been named "Super Doctor" by Los Angeles Magazine, and has been listed in "Who's Who in America".  

She has authored over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, has edited a pediatric otolaryngology textbook, and is the author of the parenting book Take a Deep Breath: Clear the Air for the Health of Your Child, releaseded in January 2012. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children, and enjoys spending time with them more than anything else in the world.

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