There's nonentity quite like the sound of snoring as the definitive sleep interrupter. But snoring can be more than just a setback to those in your range. Most of the time snoring is linked to more severe health issues, such as disruptive sleep apnea. An emerging line of research proposes snoring may directly contribute to cardiovascular problems.
How Does Snoring Occur?
When we go to sleep, the muscles of the upper airway loosen, causing it to become "floppy" and partially collapse. This occurs to some extent in all of us.
But, in some people the airway is disproportionately narrowed, mostly at the level of the tongue and soft palate/uvula. As we breathe in, we produce suction to draw air into the lungs. This further constricts the airway (like when sucking too hard on a straw) and can cause upper airway tissues such as the soft palate to oscillate, like a flag in the wind.
What Can Trigger Snoring?
If you don't snore, alcohol is a key trigger as it blocks your nose and can relax airway physiques. If you already snore, alcohol is likely to make your snoring a lot louder!
Being overweight grows fat around the neck, squeezing and tightening the throat. But thin people do snore too, and some who are overweight do not.
A congested nose - due to a cold, allergies, polyps or anatomical irregularity - makes the need for suction pressures to get air into the lungs when breathing, which more narrow the airway. Mouth opening often occurs when the nose is blocked during sleep, which itself can cause snoring.
Sleeping on your back donates to collapse of the airway, as gravity pushes the tongue and soft palate towards the back of the throat.
Enlarged tonsils narrow the airway, and are a main cause of snoring in children.
Smoking can aggravate the membrane that lines the nose and throat, causing fluid build-up (oedemic) that narrows the airways.
Excessive sleepiness following sleep deficiency can enhance airway floppiness the next time you snooze.
Pregnancy often activates snoring in the second and third trimester because of physiological changes that narrow the upper airway.
Serious Health Consequences
Snoring can be a indicator for obstructive sleep apnea, a disorder where the upper airway frequently closes during sleep, and breathing stops for at least ten seconds at a time. Obstacles to breathing can occasionally last for more than a minute and occur over 100 times an hour, starving the body of oxygen and breaking sleep.
Obstructive sleep apnea sufferers are often disproportionately sleepy and at greater risk of car and industrial accidents, cardiovascular disease - high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke - and reduced brain function, with poor memory and learning.
Over the last decade, some studies suggests heavy snoring itself may be a direct cause of cardiovascular difficulties, particularly a disorder known as carotid artery atherosclerosis.
In children, snoring is associated with behavioral issues and poorer academic progress.
Current Snoring Treatments
Given the various causes of snoring, there are numerous possible treatments available that work on some but not others.
Optional lifestyle changes include:
- avoiding alcohol before bed (minimizes airway floppiness)
- losing excess weight (reduces airway compression)
- stopping smoking (reduces airway irritation and fluid accumulation)
- avoiding sleep deprivation (minimizes airway floppiness)
There are several medical dealings for snoring that require specialist advice. If you snore more often, it is highly suggested you see a sleep and lung doctor for diagnosis and to regulate the right treatment for you.
