Snoring and its Side Effects – 5 Common Side Effects of Snoring

An Outline Guide to the Side Effects of Snoring in Order to Give a Better Understanding of What Causes Snoring and What You Need to Look For to Protect Your Health and Wellbeing;

Ever experienced that irritating noisy breathing caused by your bed partner that made you lose sleep half way through the night, or might even have prevented you from getting to sleep in the first place? Well this is what is referred to as snoring. It is a common condition amongst most people but it is extremely prevalent in the male gender where almost half of males are habitual snorers, and also quite prevalent in cases where people are suffering from conditions like obesity. Snoring also has a tendency to develop when someone grows older and it is quite common in older people internationally.

Statistics done in America show that it affects over 90 Million adults in this region. If you feel your snoring situation is chronic, you should consider seeing a doctor or specialist to first of all get confirmation that nothing sinister is causing the snoring and that there are no underlying health concerns that need to be addressed first. Rectifying the snoring issue in most cases will require the use of a specially designed anti snoring device based on your particular preference. The use of these type of devices will enable you to reduce the chances of disrupting your partners, as well as your own sleep patterns.

The essence of this article therefore, will be to discuss the major side effects of snoring, how snoring occurs, precautions among other basic things about snoring that could help you have and experience a better night sleep. With that said lets go on now and discuss snoring and its side effects and lis the 5 most common side effects of snoring.

The Major Causes of Snoring

Snoring in many cases can be linked to certain common factors that range from things like physical characteristics, lifestyle choices, diet and age. However, not all the major elements outlined need to be present for a person to snore. It only takes one of the elements to establish whether someone will snore or not. For example if one or more of the major elements are present and combined, the chances of someone snoring will obviously rise accordingly.

The following are some of the Major Causes of Snoring in most people;

1. Excess weight– Most people who have excess weight are more likely to have snoring problems. This is because the excess fat in tissues around the throat and irregular muscle toning around this area leads to restriction of the throat muscles. This in turn leads to chronic snoring.

2. Age– As you age, your body tends to lose its general toning as muscles relax more than usual. This requires more effort to keep your body in good shape. The same thing occurs to the throat and tongue muscles as they get older they will tend to lose their tone. In old age, these muscles fall back causing obstruction in the airways, leading to snoring.

3. The Anatomy of Your Mouth- People who have a thick and soft palate located at a lower position happen to narrow their airways. In other cases, people with an elongated uvula experience obstruction in their airflow leading to increased vibration hence snoring.

4. Sinuses– People who have allergies during seasonal changes, or indeed who may be allergic to certain things like dust or pets are at risk of snoring. This includes people with sinus conditions and sinuses infections. Essentially in this case the nasal passages will swell causing a difficulty in breathing and this will increases the chances of snoring.

5. Sleep Position– When you sleep on your back, you are more likely to snore. This is because the muscles at the back of the throat can at times fall back and cause a complete or partial blockage to the airways leading to muscle vibration in the mouth and as a result snoring.

Other proven causes of snoring can also include;

Sleep Deprivation or Excess Alcohol Consumption

As is often the case, when you slip from that light sleep to the deep dreamy sleep, the muscles in the roof of your soft palate, tongue and thorax will begin to relax. The tissues found in the thorax will tend to relax in this case more than usual leading to a blocking of the airways, and in turn causes vibrations inside the throat. The extent to which the airways have narrowed determines the frequency of the vibration and hence the loudness of the snore.

Side Effects of Snoring

Habitual snorers are pre-exposed to serious health risks both in the short term and in the long term. The most common snoring health risk for most people is sleep apnea, which is a serious sleeping disorder associated with random outset and pausing of breathing. Along with sleep apnea there are quite a few related health concerns that that may or may not be present as a cause or symptom of snoring including;

Heart Diseases

When you are suffering from excessive snoring you are more prone to health conditions such as high blood pressure which consequently enlarges the heart leading to stroke, coronary artery diseases and in extreme cases heart attacks. Actually, a study by health researchers show that people suffering from excessive snoring have a double risk with the above mentioned health risks than normal people.

Nocturia

One or two times you have woken up during the night to empty your bladder. Well, this might seem quite usual at first. However, if this persists, there is a need to visit your doctor and ask for help. Prostate enlargement and sleep apnea are the major contributors in this situation. This is a common condition especially with folks of ages 55 and over. They happen to wake up one or two times during the night to visit the bathroom. This is related to the condition where one cannot hold their bladder and feel the need to visit the bathroom frequently at night.

Insomnia and Obstructive Sleeping

You may not realize how often you easily get distracted during your sleep but trust me if you have a snoring issue, it is more often than normal. Those who get the chance to sleep all in all, wake up with severe headaches especially in the morning. The intensity of the headaches dictates a lot, however many people who have severe snoring conditions, are reportedly known to have a lower quality of life than other people with no noticeable condition.

Long Breathing Interruptions

This is a common scenario that most commonly affects people with obstructive snoring conditions, and one which can cause regular cases of interruptions to breathing while the person is asleep. At times, these interruptions can last up to 10 seconds especially during the night. This often reduces the air circulation into and around one’s lungs and can therefore lead to frequent episodes of waking during the night.

Low Oxygen Levels in the Blood

Consider a case where you are not breathing normally. Obviously, the level of oxygen supplied to your blood will be lower than usual. This is likely to cause constriction in the blood vessels found in the lungs hence can result to what is known as the pulmonary hypertension if you don’t seek medical attention in good time.

Arrhythmias

This is a long term health risk that attacks people who are frequent snorers or are experiencing sleep apnea. It is associated with an irregular rhythm of a person’s heartbeat. A research done shows that people suffering from sleep apnea are more prone to Atrial Fibrillation which is the most common type of arrhythmia than in people whose condition is taken care of through continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)

The excessive snoring affects the conductive system of the heart. In other cases, it is more concurrent because the sleep apnea which happens to be obstructive leads to unusual enlargement of the left atrium over a long period of time.

GERD

I know this might sound outrageous to most of you but I’m here to tell you this is real and can actually be fatal so please seek medical care. GERD or rather Gastroesophageal reflux disease, is a condition that arises from the disorder where the throat closes when the air moves in and out during sleep, leading to pressure change that in turn sucks the contents of the stomach upwards to the oesophagus. All in all, this is common in people who have excess weight, however they can curb it by enrolling in a weight loss program and managing food intake and food quality.

Other complications which are related to snoring can also include;

1. Frequent cases of anger and frustration

2. Being sleepy during the day

3. Difficulty in concentrating

Conclusion

With the above guideline about snoring, and its causes and side effects I hope you will have a better understanding in terms of what to avoid in order to have a better night sleep. Alcohol and smoking should be a no go zone if you want your snoring problem to improve. On the other hand, you should also train yourself to adopt a good sleeping position; sleep on your side rather than on your back. Finally, always be sure to consult your doctor in case the snoring is becoming too much. There might be other health complications associated with it.

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