Snoring, breathing problems at night

Snoring is the noise produced during sleep by vibrations of the soft tissues at the back of your nose and throat. It normally occurs as you breathe in air. It is a sign that your airway is being partially blocked. The noise is created by turbulent flow of air through narrowed air passages and can come through the nose, the mouth, or both the nose and mouth. It can occur during any stage of sleep. For people who snore regularly, it is most common in the REM and slow-wave stages of sleep.
Some people snore much more loudly than others. You may even snore loud enough to wake yourself up. Your snoring is sure to disturb your bed partner’s slee

About one-half of people who snore loudly have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA happens when the tissue in the back of the throat collapses to block the entire airway. This keeps air from getting in to the lungs. It occurs because the muscles inside the throat relax as you sleep. Gravity then causes the tongue to fall back and block the airway. It can happen a few times a night or several hundred times per night.

Light snoring may not disrupt your overall quality of sleep. But many people with severe snoring and OSA are sleepy during the day. They find that they are still tired even after a nap.
When you stop breathing, your body wakes up. It happens so quickly, you aren’t even aware of it. This disrupts your sleep process. If this occurs hundreds of times in one night, you will feel very tired the next day.

Who gets it?

Almost everyone is likely to snore at one time or another. It has been found in all age groups. Estimates of snoring vary widely based on how it is defined.

The rate of snoring in children is reported to be 10% to 12%. Habitual snoring has been found in about 24% of adult women and 40% of adult men. Both men and women are more likely to snore as they age. Men, however, become less likely to snore after the age of 70.

Snoring is more common in people who are overweight. There is a greater amount of fat in the back of the throat that vibrates as they sleep. Nasal obstruction raises the risk of snoring.

It has also been shown to increase during pregnancy. Snoring appears to run in families.
Your likelihood of snoring may also increase with the following present factors:
-Drinking alcohol
-Using muscle relaxers
-Using drugs
-Smoking

Snoring Causes

-The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea increases with age.
-In people aged 30–60 years, 2% of all women and 4% of all men have OSA. Up to 60% of the elderly have the condition.
-Most people diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea are obese. Increased neck fat is thought to narrow the airway, making breathing more difficult.
-Men are 7-10 times more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea than women.
-More African Americans have OSA than do whites.
-Most people with obstructive sleep apnea are older than 40 years. Weight gain and a decrease in muscle tone occur with aging, and these may play a role in increasing the incidence of OSA.
-Sleep apnea is more common in postmenopausal women.
-Family history and genetics play a role.
-Polio and muscular dystrophy increase the chance of obstructive sleep apnea, as do other medical conditions such as sinus infections, allergies, colds and nasal tumors, and hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid gland).

How do I know if I have it?

It is hard for you to know on your own. You will need a bed partner or someone else who hears you to tell you that you snore. Snoring should not disturb the quality of your sleep. If you tend to be very sleepy during the day, then your snoring may be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea.

Snoring Symptoms

Obstructive sleep apnea is an extreme form of snoring in which your upper airway closes while you are asleep, causing an obstruction that prevents you from breathing for a brief period.
-The soft tissues of the throat, your soft palate, and the tongue collapse onto the back wall of the upper airway, forming a blockage that prevents air from entering your lungs. -The negative pressure of inhaling pulls harder on your soft tissues, sealing the airway even more tightly.
-To breathe and get air to your lungs, you must awaken or arouse slightly and create tension in your muscles—including the tongue and throat—and open the airway.
-This process causes a distinctive snorting, startling, and awaking pattern.
-If you have sleep apnea, you begin snoring, then stop breathing for at least 10 seconds (apnea). The apnea temporarily quiets the snoring, after which you awaken with a large snort. This pattern occurs in 95% of people with sleep apnea.
-Each cycle of blockage (apnea) and awakening can last from 20 seconds to 3 minutes, repeating many times throughout the night. Five episodes per hour per night are common. More than 15 episodes per hour per night are the criteria used to diagnosis the condition referred to as sleep apnea.
-Some snorers can have anywhere from 100-600 episodes or cycles of sleeping and waking per night.
-Although people with sleep apnea may be completely unaware of this repeating sleep-snore-apnea-wake pattern, it is very disruptive to normal sleep patterns. Usually, it is the bed partner who is most aware of the condition. Relationships, along with school and job performance, often suffer because of persistent daytime fatigue that develops as a result of continuously disrupted sleep.

When to Seek Medical Care

If you or someone close to you is not sleeping well because of snoring or sleep apnea, visiting your doctor may be helpful. This should be by appointment, because these are not emergency cases and sometimes extra time is scheduled for the evaluation. The doctor will need to know how long you have been snoring. He or she will also want to know if it began when you gained weight or stopped exercising. Get information from those who sleep with you or have seen you sleep. This includes spouses, relatives, friends, teammates and roommates.
You will also need to provide a complete medical history. Be sure to inform your doctor of any past or present drug and medication use. Also tell him or her if you have ever had any other sleep disorder. You will also want to keep a sleep diary for two weeks. The sleep diary will help the doctor see your sleeping patterns. This information gives the doctor clues about what is causing your problem and how to correct it.

Snoring Treatment

You’ll find hundreds of cures for snoring, some more reputable than others, certainly some that are more effective than others.

Sleep position.

Because you tend to snore more when sleeping on your back, one useful technique is to try to keep from sleeping in that position. One way is to wear a pocket T-shirt backward with a tennis ball in the pocket. You will be less likely to sleep on your back because it is very uncomfortable to sleep on a tennis ball.

A solution that may help your throat and cut down your snoring (or at least reduce the volume) is to use one of the numerous throat sprays on the market. Throat sprays consist of natural oils that lubricate the back of your throat (soft palate), including the uvula (tissue dangling at the back of your throat).  The lubrication dampens or even eliminates the sound of the vibrations.  Manufacturers say that their products will keep your throat lubricated for up to eight hours.

Nasal Dilation.

If you have allergies or frequently suffer from nasal congestion, then you “Nose it’s a Problem.” The logical place to start attacking your snoring problem, therefore, is to open your nasal passages.
Nasal strips are one of the most popular remedies for snoring.  These are drug-free, non-prescription devices that work mechanically to keep your nose open and make breathing easier.
Nasal strips typically consist of one or more bands of plastic embedded in an adhesive pad. When properly placed across the nose, the bands attempt to straighten.

Homeopathic Remedies.

Several vendors believe that the easiest way to stop some types of snoring is a pill before bedtime. Anti-snoring pills contain natural plant enzymes and herbs that are able to break down body secretions, including mucous, allowing the body to reabsorb them and reduce congestion. The herbs are also said to prevent throat and nose tissue swelling, resulting in a more open and smoother airflow that helps reduce snoring

Avoid alcohol.

especially in the 4 hours before going to sleep.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

It`s a device that includes a mask that fits snugly over your nose and mouth and is held in place with head straps. The mask is connected to a blower that generates pressurized air and the  pressure from the air blower forces air through your nasal passages. The air pressure is adjusted so that it is just enough to prevent the throat from collapsing during sleep. You wear it while sleeping.

Surgery.

Somnoplasty: This is an outpatient surgical procedure performed with the patient under local anesthetic. It takes about a half-hour. During the procedure, a small electrode is placed in your anesthetized soft palate and heated up. The heat that is generated by the electrode causes the extra soft tissue at the back of the throat to shrink and contract over a few weeks.
Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), also known as Palatopharyngoplasty enlarges the throat at the tonsillar level.  Usually the surgeon takes out your tonsils, and parts of your uvula and soft palate.  This  allows more room for airflow and leaves less vibratory tissue in your throat.
Laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty: a less expensive alternative to UPPP is laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP), which uses laser techniques to shorten the uvula and vaporize parts of your palate.  Whereas UPPP is performed under a general anesthetic, LAUP can be done under local anesthetic.  LAUP is indicated if you’ve already had your tonsils removed

With proper treatment, most people with snoring-related problems improve. People who have obstructive sleep apnea will most likely benefit greatly with treatment.

Source emedicinehealth  putanendtosnoring  sleepeducation
 

Related Posts

• Body Advertisement, a new kind of publicity