Snoring is more than a nuisance; it can be a health risk. by Ruth Nichol
More than a nuisance, snoring can be a health risk.
If you’ve ever retreated to the silence of the spare room to get away from a snoring partner, you’ll know how hard it can be to sleep with someone who snores. But if you think you’re the only one paying the price for your partner’s night-time noise, think again. According to Christchurch sleep physiologist Bryn Sparks, snorers disrupt not only their partners’ sleep but also their own, increasing their risk of health problems such as weight gain, mood disorders, insomnia and low libido.
Sparks says snoring – a vibration in the airway, which relaxes and narrows when you are asleep – can send a signal to the snorer’s brain that he or she is about to choke. The brain responds by moving from a state of deep
sleep into one of lighter sleep, in a constant process of self-correction that reduces the quality of rest.
“A snore is like a marker of mechanical situation – it’s like a noise coming from your motor,” he says. “It still works, but there’s something not quite right and that can progress.”
Snoring can progress to obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), in which the airway closes completely, sometime hundreds of times a night. The health consequences of OSA are even more serious than those of snoring: excessive daytime sleepiness and low blood-oxygen levels, which can eventually cause high blood pressure and increase the risk of diabetes.
Snoring is common. About half of all adults snore occasionally and a quarter are habitual snorers. Half of those who snore loudly have OSA. Men snore more than women, but snoring increases among both sexes as we get older and start to lose muscle tone.
Other factors that may contribute to snoring include sleeping on your back, being overweight and drinking alcohol too close to bedtime.
The current obesity epidemic has led to gloomy predictions of a corresponding epidemic of snoring and OSA, but Sparks does not support them. He believes that some people are simply predisposed to snoring because of the size and shape of their airway.
Although more people are now being treated for snoring and OSA, he says that’s not because snoring is on the rise, but because more people know that treatment is available. “If you were to ask people if they could remember how many adults in their household snored when they were children, my guess is the answer would be the same as now.”
As for the role that weight plays in snoring, Sparks says weight gain is as likely to be a consequence of snoring as a cause of it: stop snoring and you may also lose weight. In any case, plenty of thin people snore too, as do those who are young and female.
That no-blame approach is central to Sparks’ approach to treating snoring. He doesn’t tell his clients to lose weight or limit their alcohol intake. Instead, he recommends having a simple screening test that can be done overnight at home, to test their blood oxygen levels and find out whether they have OSA.
Depending on the results, they have a number of treatment options. Some snorers without OSA have problems with their nose that can be corrected by sleeping with splints to keep the nasal passages open. Others have enlarged tonsils or a floppy soft palate, which can be treated with surgery.
For those with OSA, there are only two effective treatment options. If their OSA is mild, Sparks recommends trying a mouthguard-like device called a mandibular advancement splint, which pulls the bottom jaw forward during sleep so the airway is more open.
If the OSA is more serious – or the person is determined to knock snoring on the head – he recommends using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device, which keeps the air passages in the throat open by pushing air through them.
At up to $2500, these devices aren’t cheap, and because they involve using a mask, they can take a while to get used to. However, the acceptance rate after two to six weeks is around 93%, and the results can be miraculous.
“CPAP therapy is absolutely guaranteed to stop all airway resistance, as long as you actually sleep with the device.”
Snoring increases among both sexes as we get older and start to lose muscle tone.