Snoring
What is snoring?
Snoring refers to abnormal sound occurring in the airway during sleep. Snoring can be simple snoring, in other words, there's no real medical cause or complication of that particular type of snoring. That might be due to a deviated septum, or a large tongue base which does not obstruct the airway. The vast majority of people who've got snoring have this type of snoring. Snoring can also be associated with underlying medical conditions. The commonest association for snoring is with a condition called sleep apnea, where the snoring is associated with pauses and interruptions in breathing. Sleep apnea, because of this pausing in breathing, or obstruction of the airway, results in other complications in the long tem, including high blood pressure and diabetes.
How can you stop snoring?
Snoring can be cheated or stopped with a variety of interventions. These all depend on what the fundamental cause is of snoring. If someone has a slightly deviated or weakened nasal passage there are plasters that fit over the nose that could keep the airway patent or open during the night and that could treat that type of snoring. There are devices that could bring the jaw slightly forward preventing tongue based snoring. However if snoring is associated with sleep apnea these people will require a sleep study in order to diagnosis the underlying condition and then to be treated with the appropriate intervention whether it be continuous airways pressure, a mandibular device, or in some more rare cases, surgical interventions can treat this type of snoring and sleep apnea.
Can snoring cause other problems?
Snoring can cause a variety of problems. The most common is probably relationship difficulties. So the social impact of snoring, the family psycho-social impact of snoring, is significant.
Is snoring more prevalent in men?
Snoring is more prevalent in men. There have not been significant studies on the prevalence of snoring in women. But one of the findings from a few of the studies is that doctors tend not to ask the female patients whether they snore.
What is the difference between snoring and sleep apnea?
The difference between snoring and sleep apnea is sleep apnea is a condition in which snoring is one of the associated features. Everyone who snores does not have sleep apnea. But most people who have sleep apnea snore.
