RIDGEWOOD, N.J. -- Valley Health System has announced the addition of Dr. Stephanie Zandieh as Director of The Valley Pospital Pediatric Sleep Disorders and Apnea Center, welcome news to parents with children suffering from a sleep disorder.
Zandieh is triple board-certified in sleep medicine, pediatric pulmonology, and pediatrics. As a pediatric sleep medicine specialist, Dr. Zandieh focuses her care on patients from infancy to young adulthood. She received her medical degree at Sackler School of Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel, and she completed her residency in pediatrics at Jacobi Medical Center/Albert Einstein Medical College in New York City.
“Sleep is vital,” she said. “Poor sleep and sleep deprivation are associated with cognitive impairment, obesity, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mood disturbances, daytime behavior problems, diabetes, and hypertension. By focusing on this important, yet often neglected aspect of health, I hope to optimize a child's potential.”
Some of the most common sleep disorders to affect children from birth to young adulthood are apnea of prematurity, obstructive sleep apnea, insomnia, behavioral sleep-related problems, restless leg syndrome, delayed sleep phase disorder, parasomnias, and narcolepsy.
“Sleepiness in children is not normal,” notes Zandieh. “During our initial evaluation we uncover what might be affecting each child’s ability to attain healthy sleep patterns.”
Risk factors for sleep disorders might include obesity, craniofacial disorders that affect breathing, lung disease, large tonsils and adenoids, depression, metabolic syndrome, behavioral sleep issues, hormones, thyroid disease, anxiety, asthma, and epilepsy. Children with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and other neuromuscular disorders are also at risk for sleep disorders.
“Sleep problems often require a combination of treatment modalities,” said Zandieh. “By collaborating with parents, we can help our patients attain the foundations of good sleep for the rest of their lives as well as treat medical problems that may co-exist.”
For more information about Valley’s children’s services, visit Valley's website and click on Pediatric Sleep Disorders and Apnea Center from the drop-down menu at the top right of the page. To make an appointment at the Center, please call 201-447- 8152.
