Snoring is the most common sleep disorder, classified as Upper Airway Obstructive Disorder, afflicting 45 percent of Americans normal adults, and 25 percent are habitual snorers.
During sleep, the muscles of the soft palate, uvula at the back of the throat and larynx, lose their muscle tone, relax, and begin vibrating against the back of the throat or the base of the tongue, when breathing in and out, creating the snoring noise.
Snoring can happen when nose-breathing or mouth-breathing and there is a great snoring device available that will remedy this. Snoring can also occur when you have a stuffy nose from a cold or sinusitis, or when falling asleep in an upright position because the jaw relaxes and drops open.
Snoring reduces oxygen supply to the brain and body tissues, triggering an arousal within the brain. It is the oxygen deprivation and repetitious arousals that are the risk factors for poor health.
There is growing evidence that the primary cause of snoring is caused by poor integration within certain areas of the brain, thereby classifying, surgery and more than 200 mechanical devices in the market to reduce the noise, as band aid solutions.
Symptoms of Snoring
- Nightmares and restlessness
- Night sweats and overheating
- Headaches and sinus problems
- Daytime exhaustion and poor concentration
- Low sexual drive and other sexual problems
- Bloating and burping
- Heartburn and indigestion
- Reduced energy
- Mental fatigue and impaired judgement
- Hypertension and high blood pressure
- Hearing loss
- Mood swings and frequent sadness
- Depression and irritability
- Dry mouth or bad morning breath
- Kicking, twitching, punching during sleep
Sleep Debt, Fatigue and Passive Snoring
Snoring can reach noise levels up to 100 decibels. Snorers can wake themselves and their bed partners, sometimes even other family members. Snoring is bad for your health. The resultant long-term sleep deprivation is related to depressed immunity, higher chance of heart disease and stroke. Serious daytime fatigue increases the risk of accidents as well as depressive symptoms.
The characteristic profile of the habitual snorer
Male, aged between 25-75 years, may be overweight, suffering high blood pressure and anxiety or depression.
Female, aged between 35-65, possibly overweight, hormonal imbalances, mood swings and reduced physical activity.
Child, aged between 3-9 years, may be hyperactive, night sweats, mood swings, with history of repetitious ear infections, swollen tonsils, forceps delivery and/or history of head injury or falls.
Snoring Complications You Don't Know
- Snorers are six times more likely to suffer heart disease
- Snoring in children has been linked to poor school performance, low cognitive function, and hyperactivity
- Snorers affect the health of their partners through chronic fatigue and sleep deprivation, increasing their risk of developing health complications
- Snoring is related to divorce and family breakdown
- Snoring Treatment gives your partner an average of one extra hour’s sleep every night
- At age thirty, men are five times more likely to snore
- By age sixty, women snore as much as men
- Treating snoring can give men better orgasms, stronger erections and improved sex drives
- Snoring afflicts about 40 percent of adult men and 24 percent of adult women in the USA.
- Snoring problems and Sleep Apnea afflicts up to 25% of population
- Sleep Apnea sufferers are 8 times more in risk of stroke
- Snoring/Sleep Apnea has been linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, decreased sex drive and impotence
- Snoring has been linked to depression and irritability
- Snoring has been linked to fatigue, reduced energy, hearing loss, Bloating, Burping and Heartburn
- Sleep deprivation has been linked to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Improving sleep patterns improves these conditions greatly
- One in every 6 fatal accidents is linked to sleep deprivation
Conventional Medical Snoring Treatment
The use of sleeping pills is not a solution for snoring, however effective they may be in treating other sleep disorders like REM Sleep Behavior Disorder and Circadian Rhythm Disorders. The most common surgical approaches to snoring treatment include cutting out the tonsils and reshaping the back of the mouth, using a laser to wound and scar the palate in order to make it stiffer.
Where snoring is caused by a larger hyoid bone, maxillomandibular surgery is performed. A cure for Snoring involves removing the uvula and part of soft palate (Uvulo-Palatoplasty). Avoiding alcohol and managing weight is usually suggested to help with snoring, along with using a flatter pillow, avoiding sleeping tablets, sleeping on your side and making sure the bedroom is well ventilated.
All surgical options to cure snoring involve some risk and are well known to fail in a high percentage of cases, making them drastic measures for a condition predominantly caused by poor brain integration and worsened by hereditary, lifestyle and dietary factors, an area where anti-snoring mouthguards, holistic and natural medicine excels.