Roll over, chaps. Women join ranks of champion snorers
PORTLY middle-aged men with a penchant for wine and beer are often thought to be the loudest snorers.
But that’s not entirely true, say experts who have found that young women have joined the worst nasal nuisances in the land.
A survey of sleep disorders by the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital reveals that 31 per cent of men snore ‘hard’ three times a week. But that figure is 34 per cent for women in the same 25 to 34-year-old age group.
The rise may be caused by increasing rates of obesity since the 1990s, the authors say. However, men are certainly not blameless. For in older age groups it is they who often splutter and grunt until dawn. In the 55-64 age bracket, 45 per cent of men snored while only 35 per cent of women are heard causing a din.
However, after the age of 75 the number of those snoring drops steeply, the research published in the Journal Sleep Medicine adds.
The survey of people aged 18 to 100 years old formed ‘a representative sample’ of the UK population, researchers said. From the total of 1,222 subjects used, more than half were married and currently smoke, or have smoked in the past.
More than two thirds of all subjects said they drink at least one unit of alcohol a week.
The authors added ‘rates of snoring are not thought to be related to rates of sleep apnoea’.
At least half a million Britons suffer from the condition, which is common in middle-aged overweight men and causes the walls of the throat to narrow during sleep, stopping breathing.
Although there is no standard fix for snoring, the NHS recommends strapping a tennis ball to the back of the pyjamas to keep the snorer on their front or side.
Other suggestions include trying to lose weight or buying a special pillow or bed wedge to help keep a snorer on their side. Failing that, then it is a case of asking your partner to use ear plugs.