Sleep is an important way to help the body recuperate. When kids overcoming illness, children may find it difficult to sleep that is why a team of Canadian researchers are conducting a study that may help young cancer survivors sleep better.

Researchers at the University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services believe that illness can disrupt sleep patterns among children. This can cause serious health effects and impact on quality of life.

For kids, sleep is important for their cognitive, physical and social development. Disrupted sleep patterns can even be brought into adulthood.

"Many people will occasionally experience difficulties falling asleep but, when it happens regularly, it can seriously impact health and quality of life," said Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen, assistant professor with the University of Calgary's Department of Psychology.

Kids experience disrupted sleep when they're confined in the hospital for treatments. When they suffer from illness, it makes them sleep less and they find it really hard to fall asleep.

The longer they need to stay in hospitals for treatments like chemotherapy, the less sleep they'll have. Health care providers sometimes need to wake kids up for monitoring.

Traci Rhyason's son, Leland, was diagnosed with leukemia seven years ago. The mother-son tandem went through long hospitalizations, intensive therapies and frequent middle-of-the-night visits by nurses and doctors.

Sleep was least of her concerns because she didn't think of it as a major stressor. Years after his treatment, Leland has struggled with falling and staying asleep. It has taken a toll on his social, emotional and physical health.

"He doesn't have sleepovers at friends' houses from having anxieties about if he wakes up in the middle of the night and can't fall back asleep, and I'm not there to help him," said Traci Rhyason.

Leland is one of the millions of children struggling with sleep problems after being diagnosed with cancer and even after their treatment.

The study aims to help cancer survivors. The researchers are looking for children between the ages of 8 to 18 years old, who have had leukemia. They are also looking for healthy kids to form a control or comparison group.

The team hopes that the study will shed light on the onset, frequency and duration of altered sleep patterns in cancer survivors and also their families.

Photo: Premnath Thirumalaisamy | Flickr