Description
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) convened a working group on September 9, 2010 in Bethesda, Maryland titled: Pediatric Sleep Disturbances and their Contribution to Developmental Pathophysiology of Cardiometabolic Risk. The goals of the workshop were to: 1) identify opportunities and new strategies to advance interdisciplinary research on the role of sleep disordered breathing (SDB), short sleep duration and circadian disruption on the development and progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cardiometabolic disease (CMD) during childhood; 2) stimulate the cross-fertilization of science between traditionally distinct research communities, (i.e., pediatric cardiology, pediatric pulmonology, sleep medicine, circadian biology and pediatric endocrinology); 3) accelerate the identification of novel translational approaches to elucidate mechanisms linking SDB, short sleep duration and circadian disruption in childhood to increased cardiometabolic and cardiovascular disease risk; 4) define high risk phenotypes and developmental critical periods for poor CVD and CMD outcomes; and 5) prioritization of intermediate markers and biomarkers of CVD and CMD in children that should be the focus of future research.