Is snoring a sign of a serious medical condition?
I recently got married and my wife complains about my snoring. Is there something I can do about it? Is snoring a sign of a serious medical condition?
answer:
Snoring is a result of tissue vibration in your airway. As you doze off and progress from a light to a deep sleep, the muscles in the roof of your mouth (soft palate), tongue and throat relax. If the tissues in your throat relax enough, they vibrate and may partially obstruct your airway. The more narrowed your airway, the more forceful the airflow becomes. Tissue vibration increases and your snoring grows louder. Loud and frequent snoring can be more than just a nuisance to your wife - it may indicate a serious health condition. There are many factors that lead to snoring, including mouth anatomy, alcohol consumption, nasal problems and sleep apnea. Untreated, persistent snoring caused by obstructive sleep apnea may raise your lifetime risk of developing such health problems as high blood pressure, heart failure and stroke. As such, see a doctor to check if your snoring is indicative of these health concerns. In the meantime, you may want to start making some lifestyle changes such as losing weight, sleeping on your side, using nasal strips and limiting alcohol intake to help minimise snoring.
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Aug 13th 2008 at 3:38 pm
For all these concerns, including the snoring noise, a CPAP machine seems to be a good answer. The only problem is that they’re very expensive, so getting insurance to cover it is necessary, which means a sleep study will need to be done.