QMG Physicians Share Sleep Apnea Expertise at National Down Syndrome Congress Annual Convention

Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG) physi­cians Dr. Abra­ham Sheffield and Dr. Imran Shaikh recent­ly pre­sent­ed at the Nation­al Down Syn­drome Con­gress Annu­al Con­ven­tion in Orlan­do, Flori­da, where they joined a mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary pan­el of nation­al experts to share insights on diag­nos­ing and treat­ing sleep apnea in indi­vid­u­als with Down syndrome.

Dr. Sheffield, an ear, nose and throat (ENT) physi­cian, and Dr. Shaikh, an inter­nal med­i­cine physi­cian spe­cial­iz­ing in sleep and obe­si­ty med­i­cine, shared their exper­tise along­side spe­cial­ists in devel­op­men­tal-behav­ioral pedi­atrics, psy­chol­o­gy and sleep med­i­cine. The pan­el pro­vid­ed prac­ti­cal guid­ance to health­care pro­fes­sion­als and fam­i­lies on eval­u­at­ing, treat­ing and man­ag­ing sleep dis­or­ders in the Down syn­drome community.

Sleep apnea is sig­nif­i­cant­ly more com­mon among peo­ple with Down syn­drome and can affect behav­ior, learn­ing, atten­tion and over­all health. The pan­el dis­cussed the full spec­trum of care, includ­ing sleep eval­u­a­tions, CPAP ther­a­py, non-sur­gi­cal treat­ments and sur­gi­cal options such as the Inspire® implant (hypoglos­sal nerve stim­u­la­tion). The ses­sion also includ­ed case exam­ples and a live ques­tion-and-answer dis­cus­sion with attendees.

“Chil­dren and adults with Down syn­drome have unique med­ical needs. Sleep apnea is one of the most com­mon, but often under­rec­og­nized, con­di­tions they face,” said Dr. Sheffield. ​“It was an hon­or to col­lab­o­rate with col­leagues from across the coun­try and share strate­gies that can help fam­i­lies bet­ter under­stand their options.”

Dr. Shaikh empha­sized the impor­tance of increas­ing aware­ness and help­ing fam­i­lies under­stand that effec­tive treat­ment options are available.

“Sleep apnea can have a sig­nif­i­cant impact on the health and qual­i­ty of life of peo­ple with Down syn­drome, but it is also a con­di­tion we can often suc­cess­ful­ly treat,” said Dr. Shaikh. ​“Help­ing fam­i­lies rec­og­nize the signs of sleep apnea and under­stand their treat­ment options is an impor­tant step in help­ing ensure peo­ple with Down syn­drome receive the care they need.”

The Nation­al Down Syn­drome Con­gress Annu­al Con­ven­tion is one of the nation’s largest edu­ca­tion­al events ded­i­cat­ed to indi­vid­u­als with Down syn­drome, bring­ing togeth­er fam­i­lies, self-advo­cates, health­care pro­fes­sion­als, edu­ca­tors and researchers to share the lat­est advance­ments in care and support.

To learn more about Dr. Sheffield, Dr. Shaikh and the spe­cial­ty care avail­able at QMG, vis­it quin​cymed​group​.com.