Long the material for jokes, snoring is generally accepted as common
and annoying in adults but as nothing to worry about. However, snoring is no
laughing matter. Frequent, loud snoring is often a sign of sleep apnea and may
increase your risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes, as well
as lead to daytime sleepiness and impaired performance.
Snoring is caused by a narrowing or partial blockage of your
airways at the back of the mouth and upper throat. This obstruction results in
increased air turbulence when breathing in, causing the soft tissues in your
throat to vibrate. The end result is a noisy snore that can disrupt the sleep
of your bed partner. This narrowing of the airways is typically caused by the
soft palate, tongue, and throat relaxing while you sleep, but allergies or
sinus problems can also contribute to a narrowing of the airways, as can being
overweight and having extra soft tissue around your upper airways.
The larger the tissues in your soft palate, the more likely you
are to snore while sleeping. Alcohol or sedatives taken shortly before sleep also
promote snoring. These drugs cause greater relaxation of the tissues in your
throat and mouth. Surveys reveal that about one-half of all adults snore, and
50 percent of these adults do so loudly and frequently. African Americans,
Asians, and Hispanics are more likely to snore loudly and frequently compared
to Caucasians, and snoring
problems increase with age.
Not everyone who snores has sleep apnea, but people who have sleep
apnea typically do snore loudly and frequently. Sleep apnea is a serious sleep
disorder, and its hallmark is loud, frequent snoring linked to intermittent
brief pauses in breathing while sleeping. Even if you don’t experience these breathing
pauses, snoring can still be a problem for you as well as for your bed partner.
The increased breathing effort associated with snoring can impair your sleep
quality and lead to many of the same health consequences as sleep apnea.
One study found that older adults who did not have sleep apnea, but
who snored 6–7 nights a week, were more than twice as likely to report being
excessively sleepy during the day than those who never snored. The more people
snored, the more daytime fatigue they reported. That sleepiness may help
explain why snorers are more likely to be in car crashes than people who do not
snore. Loud snoring can also disrupt the sleep of bed partners and strain marital
relations, especially if snoring causes the spouses to sleep in separate
bedrooms.
Snoring also increases the risk of developing diabetes and heart
disease. One study found that women who snored regularly were twice as likely
as those who did not snore to develop diabetes, even if they were not
overweight—another risk factor for diabetes. Other studies suggest persistent
snoring may raise the lifetime risk of developing high blood pressure, heart
failure, and stroke.
About one-third of all pregnant women begin snoring for the
first time during their second trimester. If you are snoring while pregnant, let
your doctor know. Snoring in pregnancy can be associated with high blood
pressure and can have a negative effect on your baby’s growth and development.
Your doctor will routinely keep a close eye on your blood pressure throughout
your pregnancy and can let you know if any additional evaluations for the
snoring might be useful. In most cases, the snoring and any related high blood
pressure will subside shortly after delivery.
Snoring can also be a problem in children. As many as 10–15 percent
of young children, who typically have enlarged adenoids and tonsils, snore on a
regular basis. Several studies show that children who snore (with or without
sleep apnea) are more likely than those who do not snore to score lower on
tests that measure intelligence, memory, and ability to maintain attention.
These children also have more problematic behavior, including hyperactivity.
The end result is that children who snore do not perform in school as well as
those who do not snore. Strikingly, snoring was linked to a greater drop in IQ
than that seen in children who had elevated levels of lead in their blood.
Although the behavior of children improves after they stop snoring, studies
suggest they may continue to get poorer grades in school, perhaps because of
lasting effects on the brain linked to the snoring. You should have your child
evaluated by your doctor if the child snores loudly and frequently—three to
four times a week— especially if brief pauses in breathing while asleep are
noted and if there are signs of hyperactivity or daytime sleepiness, inadequate
school achievement, or slower than expected development.
Surgery to remove the adenoids and tonsils of children often can
cure their snoring and any associated sleep apnea. Such surgery has been linked
to a reduction in hyperactivity and improved ability to pay attention, even in
children who showed no signs of sleep apnea before surgery.
Snoring in older children and adults may be relieved by less
invasive measures, however. These measures include losing weight, refraining from
tobacco, sleeping on the side rather than on the back, or elevating the head
while sleeping. Treating chronic congestion and refraining from alcohol or
sedatives before sleeping can also stop snoring. In some adults, snoring can be
relieved by dental appliances that re-position the soft tissues in the mouth.
Although numerous over-the-counter nasal strips and sprays claim to relieve
snoring, no scientific evidence supports those claims.
