Is there a connection between children’s sleep problems and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?
It’s an issue Dr. Colin Shapiro, a psychiatrist specializing in sleep disorders, will address in a research project he plans to run in conjunction with the Youthdale Child and Adolescent Sleep Centre research program.
He said it is possible that many children who are being diagnosed with ADHD “may have a simple and
very treatable sleep disorder.”
Funding for this research project will come in part from an art exhibition featuring the works of 21 artists. The week-long show will be held at Metro Hall Rotunda starting on Oct. 1
The show is the seventh exhibition Shapiro has held with Youthdale Treatment Centres in support of research in child and adolescent sleep disorders. Youthdale, a children’s mental health centre, offers residential, emergency and out-patient services to youth between the ages of 12 and 18.
Shapiro said that through word of mouth, various international artists from the United States, France, Peru and Israel, along with Canadian participants have been involved in the show.
“In the exhibition this year we have a number of artists from far-flung places who have not exhibited before. These include the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, Chicago and Boston.”
About half the artists happen to be Jewish, he said. In fact, three of the exhibitors – Naomi Pollak, Stephen Selesnick, and Dr. Ashley Davidoff, are Shapiro’s former schoolmates from King David High School in Johannesburg.
The South African-born physician said there was little information about sleep disorders when he began medical school in the early ’70s.
As a medical student, Shapiro had the opportunity to do research in sleep for a month at Stanford University. He later completed a PhD at the University of Edinburgh.
In 1990, he was recruited by the psychiatry department of the University of Toronto. He started a neuropsychiatry department at Toronto Western Hospital, where he continues to practise today.
In his work with Youthdale, Shapiro dealt with sleep disorders.
He said a patient in his adult clinic suggested he hold an art exhibit to raise awareness about children’s sleep problems. “We now have this annual art exhibition.”
The artists who participate donate 50 per cent from the sale of their pieces to the Youthdale sleep research program, Shapiro said, noting that buyers get a tax receipt for 50 per cent of the purchase.
Many artists were interested in participating in the show when they heard that the funds raised would be directed to mental health issues affecting children and adolescents, Shapiro said. “Some people re-exhibit. It’s been an organic process.”
The proceeds from an earlier show have helped fund a study on sleeplessness and driving, which is still in process. Shapiro said they are researching the impact of sleepiness on the driving patterns of young and older adolescents.
The question to be answered is whether or not sleep deprivation causes younger adolescent drivers, ages 16 to 17, to have more accidents than drivers who are 22 to 25, he said.
Another study conducted in 2012 focused on sleep problems among children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Shapiro pointed out that these youngsters – brain damaged in the womb by alcohol consumption during pregnancy – have the second highest rate of sleep problems among children and adolescents.
Shapiro said the study indicated that the majority of these children have abnormal secretion levels of melatonin, a brain hormone that induces sleep and this research has improved clinical results. “Our success rate in treatment has already gone from 10 to 80 per cent.”
The exhibit runs from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7 at the Metro Hall Rotunda, 55 John St. The opening is Oct. 1 from 6 to 8 p.m., but the art works can be viewed weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
