Pediatric sleep center opens in Munster

MUNSTER | A pediatric sleep center, focusing on studying, screening, evaluating and treating sleep disorders in children, opened this month in Munster.

The Sleep Disorders Center of Franciscan Physicians Hospital, accredited by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, opened on the second floor of what was previously Surgical Hospital of Munster, 7847 Calumet Ave. The Sleep Disorders Center provides a range of pediatric sleep disorder tests, along with adult testing.

Dr. Muhammad Najjar, medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center, said about 25 percent of children experience some type of sleep problem during childhood. Those problems range from short-term difficulties in falling asleep to more serious disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea or narcolepsy.

Elevated occurrences of sleep problems in youths often coincide with medical conditions and psychiatric disorders. Childhood sleep disorders include sleepwalking, bed-wetting, narcolepsy and restless leg syndrome.