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The Discovery of Pediatric Sleep Medicine

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Sleep Disorders in Children

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Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to depict the discovery of sleep physiology in infants and the emergence of the discipline of pediatric sleep as relatively autonomous entity.

The gradual awareness regarding sleep disorders in infants and children begins in the nineteenth century when the first doctors and pediatricians begin to classify infants and children sleep disorders. The process that leads to the increasing understanding and knowledge of pediatric sleep disorders was not easy. Children’s sleep has been neglected until the end of the last century with the main textbook of pediatrics reporting no chapters or only few paragraphs devoted to pediatric sleep.

It is interesting to note that the first observation that leads to the discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was made on neonates and infants, and the first study on the negative behavioral consequences of sleep apnea has been reported in children.

The story of the infants’ and children’s sleep behavior during the antiquity is briefly delineated, and subsequently the first recommendations on the sleep time duration are reported with surprisingly data.

This chapter also briefly lists the fundamental contribution of researchers from different countries and their role in the development of pediatric sleep medicine.

Finally, the history and the establishment of the scientific associations related to the pediatric sleep medicine are delineated.

This historical overview has limitations, and some fundamental researchers that greatly contributed to the birth of pediatric sleep medicine as an independent field probably have been forgotten. However the last few years have acknowledged the growing interest on pediatric sleep, and different health providers (pediatric pulmonologists, otolaryngologists, neurologists, orthodontists, and psychologists) become interested in recognizing the negative consequence of sleep disorders for child health and development.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders, Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Oliviero Bruni MD

  2. S. Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy

    Oliviero Bruni MD

  3. Sleep Research Centre, Department of Neurology, I.C., Oasi Institute for Research on Mental Retardation and Brain Aging (IRCCS), Troina, Italy

    Raffaele Ferri

Authors
  1. Oliviero Bruni MD
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  2. Raffaele Ferri
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Correspondence to Oliviero Bruni MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Charles University and General Teaching Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic

    Soňa Nevšímalová

  2. Sapienza University, S. Andrea Hospital, Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Rome, Roma, Italy

    Oliviero Bruni

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Bruni, O., Ferri, R. (2017). The Discovery of Pediatric Sleep Medicine. In: Nevšímalová, S., Bruni, O. (eds) Sleep Disorders in Children. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28640-2_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28640-2_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28640-2

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