Snoring: more to it than we may think
Snoring: it can wake us up at night and cause problems in relationships. But it can also be very detrimental to our health, as a top doctor explains...
Despite how commonly it occurs, you may be surprised to know that snoring isn’t actually considered normal.
While occasional snoring is usually not very serious in itself, habitual snoring can also put you at risk of serious health problems.
Snoring can affect people of all ages, including children, although it is more common in adults aged 40-60. As many as one in four people in Wales snore regularly.
As you may suspect, twice as many men snore as women.
It can also cause accidents with the use of machinery and vehicles, such as cranes and forklift trucks. Snoring can sometimes indicate a more serious related condition called obstructive sleep apnoea, where a person’s airways repeatedly become partially or totally blocked for about 10 seconds throughout the night so you snore loudly and have periodic pauses in breathing.
As a consequence, you spend more time in light sleep and less time in deep, restorative sleep which you need to be energetic, mentally sharp and productive the following day.
Over time sleep apnoea can also lead to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and weight gain.
It is important to take snoring seriously as a health issue. See your GP if you wake up gasping or choking during the night. You should also speak to your GP if your child snores.
Nuffield Health’s ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon, Vijay Singh, explains: “Sleep apnoea is a condition that interrupts your breathing when you are asleep and the cessation of breathing automatically forces you to wake up in order to start breathing again. This interferes with your sleep and quality of life.
“To treat this I believe in an evidence-based, transparent and multidisciplinary approach, through an open discussion with patients and close links with referring clinicians and colleagues in related specialities.” weight, are usually recommended as a first step to diminish the risk of snoring. Treatment can improve snoring in some cases, but a complete cure isn’t always possible. 1. Maintain a healthy weight. This will prevent, reduce and even eliminate snoring. Even a small amount of weight loss can open up your throat and improve sleep apnoea symptoms. 2. Avoid alcohol, especially before bedtime, as this relaxes the muscles in the throat and interferes with breathing 3. Don’t smoke. Smoking is believed to contribute to sleep apnoea by increasing inflammation and fluid retention in your throat and upper airway. 4. Maintain regular sleep hours. Sticking to a steady sleep schedule will help you relax and sleep better.
ZAnti-snoring devices, such as mouth guards or nasal strips, may help prevent snoring.
Surgery may be an option if antisnoring devices don’t help.
This often involves removing the soft tissue that causes snoring, or preventing the tissue from vibrating by causing it to tighten.
Surgery for snoring is usually regarded as a treatment of last resort.
It’s important to be aware that surgery can often have a limited effect that doesn’t last longer than one or two years. It can also cause sideeffects or complications. Inflammation of the lining of the nose is called rhinitis and is extremely common.
For one in four people it is caused by seasonal allergies, such as pollen, and by year-round allergies such as pets or house dust mites.
Many people with the condition can end up snoring in their sleep – a more dangerous side-effect than people realise.
Consultation with a specialist in ENT will identify causes so an accurate diagnosis and treatment can follow.
Vijay Singh said: “Clinical symptoms of rhinitis are a runny nose, itching, sneezing and nasal congestion.
“Whether this results from an allergy or other causes, it can occur alongside asthma.
“It can also be part of sinusitis, as sinus inflammation almost always involves the nasal passages and can occur with inflammation of the middle ear, called otitis media.
“These symptoms warrant proper investigation and treatment.”
Rhinitis reduces quality of life, can impair sleep and reduce performance and attendance at work and school.
Allergic rhinitis is frequently ignored or regarded as trivial by sufferers and their families.
Experts say this is probably because recurrent colds are common, particularly in small children, and hay fever is simply accepted as part of life.
Children with allergies have been shown to have more infections and more problems with those infections.
Asthmatic children who get colds are 20 times more likely to need to go into hospital due to their asthma if they are allergic and if they are exposed to high levels of their provoking allergens. Adequate treatment of the underlying allergic disease will help to diminish these problems. The importance of treatment ENT specialist, Mr Singh, added: “If left untreated, rhinitis may progress to persistent symptoms and result in nasal congestion and sinusitis.
“Surgery is rarely needed, and depending on the cause, rhinitis can usually be successfully treated with allergen avoidance, desensitisation or drug therapy.
“Avoidance of irritants such as smoke and simply washing out the nose with a warm salt-water solution can be very soothing.
“While mild to moderate hay fever may respond to antihistamines, more persistent rhinitis is better treated with a topical nasal corticosteroid spray or nasal drops or a combination treatment with tablets.
“Where this does not offer the required control and the sufferer is not asthmatic, injection or underthe-tongue immunotherapy can be another treatment option which is given regularly over three years.”
To make an appointment to see Mr Singh, or one of the other five ENT surgeons at Nuffield Health’s Bay Hospital, call 01443 449287.