We might not be ready to admit it, but we all occasionally snore. More than 45 percents of men and 30 percents of women snore fairly regularly. Nevertheless, we mostly consider snoring a trivial issue and ignore it. Except if we sleep next to a heavy snorer, who keeps not only us, but the kids, dogs and neighbors awake most nights. Then the snoring becomes a serious issue and, after a number of sleepless nights, we are ready to try just about any solution.
Common sleep disorder
Snoring is a common sleep disorders which affect others far more than the person afflicted by it. Most of us are not aware that we snore and we try to take it lightly when confronted with our cranky tired sleeping partner in the morning. But, snoring can be a sign of a serious health issue.
Snoring is caused by the obstruction in the flow of air through the nose and mouth. Because of the obstruction, the walls of the throat vibrate, producing the sound we know as snoring. Some conditions make snoring more likely: obese people snore because of accumulated fat around the throat; nasal congestion causes snoring; heavy consumption of alcohol releases throat muscles inducing snoring.
It can be apnea
Snoring can also be the first sign of a sleep apnea, a much more serious problem. Sleep apnea is defined as a pause in breathing while we sleep, which happens five times or more in one hour. Pauses in breathing cause drop in oxygen and increase in carbon dioxide in our blood. This can increase our risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, memory loss and diabetes. It is believed that more than18 million people in America snore because they have undiagnosed sleep apnea.
Don”t take your snoring lightly. See your doctor to eliminate any serious cause. If everything seems to be all right, consider it a fair deal to move to the guest room and install solid sound insulation.
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