Airway health is an important but often overlooked area of medicine, and studies have connected poor airway health to sleep, cognitive, behavioral, and physical problems. Dr. Shereen Lim is breaking new ground in this field with her book Breathe, Sleep, Thrive, a comprehensive guide to breathing and airway development. It covers the issues that can arise from poor airway health to what steps can be taken to prevent and reverse damage, focusing on children’s development in particular.
As one of Australia’s first dentists to obtain a qualification in dental sleep medicine, Dr. Lim has seen the effects first-hand of poor airway and dental development. She shares on her website that “common issues children experience such as snoring, poor attention and concentration, ADHD-symptoms, difficulties with emotional regulation, recurrent ear infections, speech or feeding concerns, teeth grinding, crooked teeth, and more, can often be symptoms of a bigger, underlying problem. These can all be symptoms of dysfunctional breathing and unrestorative sleep.” Her holistic approach seeks to solve the root cause of health issues, rather than only treating the symptoms.
This book is divided into three main parts: an overview of airway health, early childhood influences on airway development, and pathways to restore airway health. From both research and personal experiences, she lays out the most important factors that affect airway health, including mouth breathing, infant feeding habits, tongue-ties, and jaw and teeth development. From there, she proposes solutions to each issue. This ranges from creating healthy habits during childhood to surgery to correcting problems as an adult. The book is filled with charts, lists, photos, and references to back up the data.
Breathe, Sleep, Thrive set out to spread awareness of overlooked health problems and provide potential solutions based on scientific research and first-hand experience. For parents of developing children, healthcare professionals, or those seeking to better understand their own health, Dr. Shereen Lim’s book dives deep into an important aspect of well-being: breathing.
Available on Amazon. For more information visit www.drshereenlim.com.au.
About Dr. Shereen Lim: She is an Australia-based dentist with a post graduate diploma in dental sleep medicine from the University of Western Australia. She was one of Australia's first handful of dentists to obtain a qualification in dental sleep medicine. She has been involved in managing snoring and obstructive sleep apnea for over a decade and has seen the physical, developmental, mental, and emotional problems that are often associated with these breathing disturbances throughout the lifespan. Her mission is to highlight root causes and promote airway health, or a shift from managing disease and symptoms towards ensuring healthy nasal breathing and good airway development from infancy. She works in private practice and has a special focus on unlocking greater health and wellness through addressing tongue ties, oral dysfunction (during infant feeding, swallowing, breathing, chewing, and speech), and guiding good jaw development during childhood.
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