If won’t get enough sleep, it can leads to daytime irritability, fatigue, and some health problems. Nowadays relationship problems are increased because of snoring, but for this sleeping alone or separate bedroom is not a remedy.

Snoring is of various types. Some people sneeze because of allergies, while some sneeze because of bad blood. Similarly, everyone has their own reason for their snoring. In most cases, people who often snore may have nasal and throat issues. Our tongue position is also the way of easy breathing.

The Best Possible Snoring Solutions:

• To solve the snoring first and the best step is to find out the cause of snoring and maintain a sleep dairy to monitor. You can also take help from your non-snoring partner.
• Loss weight: Losing a little weight can reduce our fat in throat, which will help to decrease snoring or stop the snoring.
• Exercise: Good exercise will help to reduce the snoring. Exercise tones the muscles in your throat.
• Quit smoking: Smoking may also increase the chances of snoring during your sleep. Smoking blocks the airways and thus irritates the membranes in the throat and nose. Also try to avoid sleeping pills and alcohol especially before bed time.
• Mouthpiece: One of the best snoring solutions is simply putting a mouthpiece. Just put this around the teeth of your mouth before you sleep, which helps you to stop snoring during the night sleep.
• Jaw support: You can also consider jaw support that works as an elastic strap. You can wear around your head while you are going to sleep. This would keep your jaw in particular position and prevent the occurrence of snoring. These jaw strips are very comfortable and also very cheap.

Snore prevention devices are also available like special pillows, nasal strips that place the neck in the correct position to open the airway.

Surgery:

Other than these snoring solutions there are some surgical procedures, which can be used for treatment of snoring. Most solutions would help in clearing the blockage in the nasal passage.

Having a long uvula can be an issue for several people. Uvula is the tissue, which hangs in the back of your mouth. If the uvula is very long it may vibrate and generates snoring. It may also result due to the partially constructing the airways while you are sleeping. This problem can be treated with surgery.

There are several surgeries are available to treat the snoring problem such as newer RadioFreequency ablation (RFA) or uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. These snoring solutions help in clearing the airways, and allow precise flow of air through the throat.

Unfortunately, most of the people who snor, doesn’t know that they are really having this sleeping disorder. It is their sleeping partner, who will really know about this disorder. If a person snores occasionally, then it is not a serious problem, but it will result in sleep disruption of the sleeping partner.

But, if this making of noise in sleep is regular, which is known as habitual snoring, it is dangerous. To snor regularly not only disrupts the sleep of the sleeping partner, but also disrupts the sleep of his own.

There are few surgical methods like Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, Laser-assisted uvula palatoplasty, somnoplasty, etc., and other snoring aids like CPAP, stop snoring pillows, nasal strips, etc., are available for treating snoring. Let us see some natural tips that will help in overcoming this disorder.

• Maintain proper sleeping position. Sleep side-ways rather than on back or belly. If you are facing problem in maintaining sideway sleep, tie a ball to your back. By doing so, this ball will not allow you to sleep on back.
• Lose weight: It is known fact that obesity is one of the main causes of snoring, so, losing weight can be great help for the person who snor in treating it.
• Go for a firm pillow while sleeping instead of soft pillow will increase snoring by relaxing the throat muscle.
• Try to avoid milk and other dairy products just before the sleep as these things can develop mucus.
• Try to avoid taking tranquilizers, sleeping pills, and antihistamines just before going to bed.
• Another thing that can help a person to stop snor is by inhaling steam before bedtime, as this will help in reducing the throat blocking.
• Take healthy and balanced diet.
• Make sure that you do not take heavy meals or snacks before sleep at least for 4 hours before sleep.
• Avoid alcohol and smoking before sleep.
• Exercising for about 30 minutes daily. This will help in maintaining physical fitness and also in getting good night sleep and thereby reducing the effects of snor.
• Maintaining a regular sleeping pattern will also help the person who snor in treating the disorder.

The above mentioned tips can be very helpful in treating snoring. But, if the problem is still persistent, then it better to consult a sleep doctor for further help.

The device uses electrical stimulation to activate nerves in the throat, forcing the muscles to keep the airways open.

In a small study, all the patients given the treatment for sleep apnoea showed considerable improvement in snoring and other symptoms.

Sleep apnoea occurs when breathing is interrupted during sleep for more than 10 seconds at a time.

Obstructive sleep apnoea, the most common type, is caused by a narrowing of the airways. During sleep, the throat or upper airways relax, resulting in the collapsed tissue reducing the airway.

When the air is completely cut off, the brain sends an emergency signal to the airway muscles to contract. This reopens the airway, allowing the patient to inhale – resulting in snoring.

However, when the patient falls asleep again, the tongue and soft tissue relax and the process is repeated.

Sufferers can wake up feeling exhausted – which can put them at risk when driving.

Left untreated, the condition can also increase the risk of high blood pressure and heart attack, stroke and diabetes.

One of the most effective treatments is continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP). The patient wears a mask that keeps the airways open by continuously pumping air into them.

However, the masks are often tight and uncomfortable, so up to 60 percent of sufferers do not continue with the treatment.

The condition can also be treated surgically, with nasal airway surgery, palate implants and tongue reduction. However, a new treatment offers a less painful and quicker alternative.

Exactly why the upper airways collapse in sleep apnoea is still not fully understood. However, studies have shown a clear decline in muscular “strength” in the throats of patients.

This has led to the idea that stimulating the upper airway muscles may help to keep them open. A sensor is implanted under the skin of the neck, this is connected to a tiny electrode placed in contact with the main nerve under the tongue.

The device is powered by a generator which is implanted under the skin of the chest.

The sensor is programmed to detect pressure changes in the airway. When this happens, the electrode fires pulses to the nerve, which in turn activates the muscle, pushing the airway open. Patients feel no pain. The generator, which can be switched on and off for sleep using a remote control, may need replacing every ten years or so, much like a pacemaker.

Studies at Johns Hopkins University in the US and other centres in Europe included eight patients. Results showed the number of sleep apnoea episodes was reduced by more than half.

* “Most people with obstructive sleep apnoea are overweight,” explains Andrew McCombe, consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon at Frimley Park Hospital and spokesman for ENT UK.

“The first and most useful thing they can do is lose weight – not only to improve their sleep apnoea condition, but also for the general health benefits this will provide. CPAP is an excellent treatment if this is not possible.

“This procedure seems fairly straightforward. Like many of these things it is interesting and may lead to other ideas and developments.’ – Daily Mail

Source: IOL

Snoring is a common problem among all age groups. Snoring can be found in both men and women. But, most often it is found in men and people, who are overweight. Snoring is often taken for comedy, but it is a serious problem. It can damage your health. Occasional snoring is not a serious treat, but habitual snoring can not only disturb their partner, but also disturbs their own. The noisy sleep will have a large impact on a person’s marriage life.

A snorer will have improper functioning during the daytime because of the tiredness and sleepiness caused due to fragmented and un-refreshing sleep. Celebrities are not exempted from this sleep disorder. Celebrities too snore, here the list of the celebrities who snore:

List of Celebrities Who Snore:

1. Elizabeth Taylor:

The famous Elizabeth Taylor is also called as Lizzzzzz Taylor, cynically because of her snoring.

2. Alan Myatt

Alan Myatt, a town cryer, a Guinness Book record holder for loudest voice, used to snore. His snoring is been cured, but his wife said that she had earache for years due to his snore.

3. Courtney Cox and David Arquette

Courtney Cox has announced that her husband David Arquette snores terribly during sleep.

4. Roseanne Cherie Barr and Ben Thomas

Roseanne Cherie Barr also faces the same problem with her husband Ben Thomas. As a result, she makes him to sleep in another room.

5. Kathy Lee Gifford and Frank Gifford

Kathy Lee Gifford also admits about the snoring of her husband, a football legend Frank Gifford.

6. Billy Connolly

Billy Connolly, Scottish comedian uses CPAP machine as a treatment for OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea). He openly talks about his snoring.

7. Sir Winston Churchil

Winston Churchill was also a sound snoring. The causes for his snoring were his habit of Cigar smoking and alcohol consumption.

8. Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt

Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt’s overweight made him to snore a lot during sleep.

9. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s habit of smoking made him to snore.

10. Queen Victoria

Apnoea means “without breath” and occurs when the muscles in the airways behind the tongue relax in sleep, causing the person to snore and briefly, to stop breathing.

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a common, often “silent” liver disease occurring in around 40% of the population. It resembles alcoholic liver disease, but occurs in people who drink little or no alcohol. The major feature in NASH is fat in the liver, along with inflammation and damage. NASH can be severe and can lead to cirrhosis, in which the liver is permanently damaged and scarred and no longer able to work properly.

Obesity predisposes patients to both fatty liver diseases and obstructive sleep apnoea.

To mimic the effects of low oxygen levels caused by the repeated obstruction of the upper airways in sleep apnoea, the researchers kept mice in a low oxygen environment for seven days. After this time they were found to have more fat and inflammation in their livers compared to mice that had been kept in atmospheres with normal levels of oxygen. When the mice were exposed to low oxygen levels, the genes that controlled fat synthesis in the liver seemed to be more active while those that controlled fat breakdown demonstrated reduced activity.

In addition, the mice exposed to low levels of oxygen became less sensitive to insulin. This is the mechanism by which the body regulates blood sugar and is a cause of diabetes. Metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity can cause complications in patients with NASH.

Commenting on the finding, Dr Piguet said, “Hypoxia (lack of oxygen) may be the link leading to accumulation of fat in the liver and to the progression of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Our findings show that it is important both to screen obese patients for obstructive sleep apnoea to prevent it contributing to fatty liver disease and to treat those patients who already have NASH for hypoxia which may be making their condition worse”.

Source: Biochemical Society

Snoring is caused by relaxed and sagging tissues. As sleep deepens, the tongue relaxes, as do the soft tissues of the throat and the roof of the mouth (soft palate). The tissues can sag into the airway, causing it to narrow. As air is inhaled or exhaled through the narrowed opening, the relaxed tissues of the soft palate vibrate. The result is snoring. Though most snoring is harmless, snorers should consult a doctor to rule out sleep apnea, a serious health concern where breathing stops during sleep.

For ordinary snoring, a doctor will likely discuss conservative treatment options first. Assistive devices or, as a last resort, surgery, can help reduce snoring. Mayo Clinic Health Letter covers these treatment approaches:

Lose weight: Extra bulk narrows airways, contributing to snoring.

Avoid alcohol: Alcohol consumption can cause excessive muscle relaxation. Avoiding alcohol for at least four hours before bedtime may help.

Relieve nasal obstruction: Adhesive nasal strips (Breathe Right, others) or corticosteroid nasal sprays can help reduce nasal obstruction that can contribute to snoring.

Change sleep positions: In back sleepers, the tongue can sag and narrow the airway during sleep. A doctor can suggest techniques to learn to sleep comfortably in other positions.

Stop smoking: Smoking is associated with an increased risk of snoring. People who stop have a lower rate of snoring.

Try assistive devices: The most effective treatment for snoring is a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. It delivers pressurized air through a mask, keeping the upper airway open during sleep. Some people have difficulty wearing a mask at night. An oral appliance from a specially trained dentist or orthodontist can help keep the throat open, too, and may be less obtrusive than a CPAP machine.

Consider surgery: Several surgical procedures can help reduce snoring, either by cutting away excess mouth and throat tissue or by stiffening tissues of the soft palate to prevent vibration and sagging. Surgery is considered a last resort because it can cause side effects and complications. Typically, there’s only a 50 percent chance that snoring will improve over the long term.

Mayo Clinic Health Letter is an eight-page monthly newsletter of reliable, accurate and practical information on today’s health and medical news.

Source: Mayo Clinic

A new study from researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has found that women who reported frequent snoring during their pregnancy were more likely to develop gestational diabetes — a condition than can cause health problems for the mother and baby. The study also found pregnancy increases the likelihood that a woman will snore.

This is the first study to report a link between snoring and gestational diabetes.

For the study, 189 healthy women completed a sleep survey at the time of enrollment (six to 20 weeks gestation) and in the third trimester.

Pregnant women who were frequent snorers had a 14.3 percent chance of developing gestational diabetes, while women who did not snore had a 3.3 percent chance. Even when researchers controlled for other factors that could contribute to gestational diabetes such as body mass index, age, race and ethnicity, frequent snoring was still associated with the disease.

Principal investigator Francesca Facco, M.D., a fellow at Northwestern’s Feinberg School, presented her findings at the SLEEP 2009 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies June 11.

“Sleep disturbances during pregnancy may negatively affect your cardiovascular system or metabolism,” said Facco, who in August will become an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Feinberg School and a maternal and fetal medicine physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

“Snoring may be a sign of poor air flow and diminished oxygenation during sleep that can cause a cascade of events in your body,” Facco said. “This may activate your sympathetic nervous system, so your blood pressure rises at night. This can also provoke inflammatory and metabolic changes, increasing the risk of diabetes or poor sugar tolerance.”

The study also showed more women became frequent snorers as their pregnancies progressed. Early in pregnancy, 11 percent of women in the study reported frequent snoring; by the third trimester, the number rose to 16.5 percent. Frequent snoring was defined as snoring three or more nights a week.

Facco said snoring during pregnancy may be triggered by weight gain and edema (a buildup of fluid), which can increase airway resistance. Exactly how the snoring is linked to gestational diabetes is not yet known.

About 4 percent of pregnant women develop gestational diabetes, a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes develop high blood sugar levels during pregnancy. Babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes are at increased risk of problems such as being large for gestational age, which may lead to delivery complications. These babies may also have low blood sugar levels and are at increased risk of becoming obese or developing impaired sugar tolerance or metabolic syndrome later in life.

While gestational diabetes usually resolves after pregnancy, women who develop it are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes later in life.

Facco said further studies are needed to understand the association between snoring and gestational diabetes and to develop interventions to treat sleep disorders during pregnancy.

“If snoring is bothering a woman who is pregnant, she should seek a consultation with a sleep specialist,” Facco said.

In related study, also presented at the SLEEP 2009 meeting, Facco found sleep disturbances such as restless legs syndrome and insomnia increase significantly during pregnancy.

Source: Marla Paul, Northwestern University

Sufferers of obstructive sleep apnoea experience similar changes in brain biochemistry as people who have had a severe stroke or who are dying, the research shows.

A study by UNSW Brain Sciences, published this month in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, is the first to analyse – in a second-by-second timeframe – what is happening in the brains of sufferers as they sleep. Previous studies have focused on recreating oxygen impairment in awake patients.

“It used to be thought that apnoeic snoring had absolutely no acute effects on brain function but this is plainly not true,” said lead author of the study, New South Global Professor Caroline Rae.

Sleep apnoea affects as many as one in four middle-aged men, with around three percent going on to experience a severe form of the condition characterised by extended pauses in breathing, repetitive asphyxia and sleep fragmentation.

Children with enlarged tonsils and adenoids are also affected, raising concerns of long-term cognitive damage.

Professor Rae and collaborators from Sydney University’s Woolcock Institute used magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study the brains of 13 men with severe, untreated, obstructive sleep apnoea. They found that even a moderate degree of oxygen desaturation during the patients’ sleep had significant effects on the brain’s bioenergetic status.

“The findings show that lack of oxygen while asleep may be far more detrimental than when awake, possibly because the normal compensatory mechanisms don’t work as well when you are asleep,” Professor Rae, who is based at the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, said.

“This is happening in someone with sleep apnoea acutely and continually when they are asleep. It’s a completely different biochemical mechanism from anything we’ve seen before and is similar to what you see in somebody who has had a very severe stroke or is dying.”

The findings suggested societal perceptions of snoring needed to change, Professor Rae said.

“People look at people snoring and think it’s funny. That has to stop.”

Professor Rae said it was still unclear why the body responded to oxygen depletion in this way. It could be a form of ischemic preconditioning at work, much like in heart attack sufferers whose initial attack makes them more protected from subsequent attacks.

“The brain could be basically resetting its bioenergetics to make itself more resistant to lack of oxygen,” Professor Rae said. “It may be a compensatory mechanism to keep you alive, we just don’t know, but even if it is it’s not likely to be doing you much good.”

Source: Steve Offner, University of New South Wales

Loud and regular nightly snoring is often abnormal in otherwise healthy children. Sometimes it is a sign of a respiratory infection, a stuffy nose or allergy; other times it may be a symptom of sleep apnea. In 2002, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that all children be screened for snoring and that a diagnosis be conducted to determine if a child is experiencing normal primary snoring or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

About one to three percent of children not only snore, but also suffer from breathing problems during their sleep. When snoring is accompanied by gasps or pauses in breathing, the child may have OSAS. Children’s muscles normally relax during sleep, but they can become so relaxed that the airway is narrowed or obstructed and sufficient air cannot pass through. This interferes with breathing, causing a pause in breathing that can last only a few seconds or as long as a minute. The brain is then alerted and signals the body to make an effort to start breathing again. This effort results in the child gasping or snorting, waking up and starting to breathe again. Because of these repeated arousals to breathe, the child may not get enough quality sleep and is likely to be sleepy or overtired during the day.

Contributing factors to sleep apnea may be obesity, allergies, asthma, GERD (gastroenterological reflux disorder), an abnormality in the physical structure of the face or jaw as well as medical and neurological conditions. In children, the most common physical problem associated with sleep apnea is large tonsils. Young children’s tonsils are quite large in comparison to the throat, peaking at five to seven years of age. Swollen tonsils can block the airway, making it difficult to breathe and could signify apnea. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 263,000 children in the U.S. have tonsillectomies each year and sleep apnea is a major reason.

Undiagnosed and untreated sleep apnea may contribute to daytime sleepiness and behavioral problems including difficulties at school. In one recent study presented at the American College of Chest Physicians, children who snored loudly were twice as likely to have learning problems. Following a night of poor sleep, children are also more likely to be hyperactive and have difficulty paying attention. These are also signs of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Apnea may also be associated with delayed growth and cardiovascular problems.

During the night, children with sleep apnea may:

• Snore loudly and on a regular basis
• Have pauses, gasps, and snorts and actually stop breathing. The snorts or gasps may waken them and disrupt their sleep.
• Be restless or sleep in abnormal positions with their head in unusual positions.
• Sweat heavily during sleep.

During the day, children with sleep apnea may:

• Have behavioral, school and social problems
• Be difficult to wake up
• Have headaches during the day, but especially in the morning
• Be irritable, agitated, aggressive, and cranky
• Be so sleepy during the day that they actually fall asleep or daydream
• Speak with a nasal voice and breathe regularly through the mouth

If you suspect your child may have symptoms of sleep apnea, talk to your doctor who may refer you to a sleep specialist and/or an overnight sleep study. This study will record the child’s sleep, brain waves, body movements, heartbeat, breathing, arousals and noises to determine a diagnosis. Sleep specialists have special training in sleep medicine and can help to determine if your child has primary snoring, sleep apnea or another problem. They can then offer you the most appropriate treatment.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Heavy snoring can be far from a nuisance. It can be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea, a condition where an individual briefly stops breathing during the night which raises the risk of heart failure and strokes.

“Sleep apnea or sleep disordered breathing is one that we’re getting more and more interested in because we see a very strong association with strokes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems,” says Melvyn Rubenfire, M.D., director of Preventative Cardiology at the University of Michigan Health System’s Cardiovascular Center.

The cardiovascular risk factors that most often come to mind are smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and family history. But it’s important to be aware of the possible health risks of heavy snoring.

Snoring is caused by a blockage in the back of the throat. What you hear is the tongue forced to the back of the throat when a person is lying on their back.

When people snore they don’t always stop breathing, but there are chemicals in the brain that should trigger breathing that are not stimulated when a person snores. Without the stimulation the person will often stop breathing.

When a person obstructs at night and stops breathing, oxygen levels drop dramatically and hormones and adrenaline surge. Those hormones contribute to high blood pressure, irregularities of the heart and can trigger heart attacks

People who snore do not necessarily have obstructive sleep apnea but the relationship is pretty strong.
And the relationship between snoring and cardiovascular problems goes both ways. Those with heart problems are more likely to have sleeping disorders. For example, heart failure can lead to water retention – water buildup in legs, lungs and tissues in the back of the throat.

“So heart failure can be one of the causes of obstructive sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea can seriously worsen heart function and aggravate heart failure,” Rubenfire said.

Studies had long suggested a connection between snoring and cardiovascular problems but men made up most of the study group. According to a large study published in the February 2000 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, women who snore regularly have about twice the risk of heart attacks and strokes than women who never snore.

“Still it may be too early to tell if snoring is an independent risk factor for heart disease,” says Rubenfire who continues to review research on sleep disordered breathing as it relates to cardiovascular disease. “What we do know is if you treat people with obstructive sleep apnea the risk of cardiovascular disease improves dramatically.”

Rubenfire explains that anyone who snores loudly, wakes without feeling rested or has hypertension, diabetes or is overweight is more prone to sleep disordered breathing or obstructive sleep apnea.

The most important step in treating snoring is recognition and appropriate diagnosis. A very effective treatment – one that helps 90 percent of those who are compliant with the method – is using a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure device.

“These are excellent devices, called CPAP, … these are masks that prevent you from obstructing by creating some pressure,” says Rubenfire. “Simple snoring that’s not very loud and without any other symptoms can usually be handled simply by turning on your side.”

Source: University of Michigan Health System.