Is Your Snoring A Health Risk? (Part 1/2)

Is Your Snoring A Health Risk? (Part 1/2)
When you stop breathing in your sleep it's time to see a doctor for sleep apnoea

By Verlaine S. Ramos | Reprinted with permission from Ezyhealth & Beauty magazine

IT'S three in the morning and you toss and turn as you try to block off the irritating sound coming from your bed partner. Covering your ears with the pillow doesn’t seem to help, as his snoring becomes louder every minute. You just resign to the fact that you’ll wake up sluggish and puffy eyed again due to lack of sleep.

Snoring is a common problem and is deemed a nuisance. Unfortunately, the snorer is often oblivious to the nightly commotion; it’s always the bed partner who is kept awake night after night because of the dreadful noise.

What causes snoring?

According to Dr Kenny Pang, Director of Pacific Sleep Centre and President of the ASEAN Sleep Surgical Society, snoring is due to the excess vibration of the tissues in the mouth and oral cavity, which includes the soft palate, uvula, base of tongue and other soft tissues.

The noise occurs when there is an obstruction of the flow of air through the passage at the back of the mouth (airway) and nose.

Several factors increase the likelihood of a person to snore. These include:

• Being overweight – obese people frequently have a thick and fatty soft palate
• Geting older – snoring gets worse with age
• Gender – men are more likely to snore than women, but some women can also be snorers
• Family history – snoring may run in families, especially when you have similar facial structures (small jaw or shape of the throat)
• Drinking alcohol and smoking – alcohol relaxes the muscles of the throat and this causes the airway to collapse; smoking makes snoring worse
• Blocked nose – correcting the nasal abnormality may reduce the snoring
• Sleeping position – when lying on your back, your tongue tends to fall backwards and block the airway; hence, sleeping on your side reduces snoring
• In children – large tonsils and adenoids can cause severe snoring in kids, which may also require treatment

Click here for next chapter: What is sleep apnoea?

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Source: Is Your Snoring A Health Risk? (Part 1/2)