Why Do We Snore?

Ever wonder why you snore at night? Or why someone you know doesn’t stop snoring while they sleep? Well I find snoring to be extremely annoying, so I am going to write this blog on it.

Why do people snore?

“Snoring is the sound produced by vibrating structures of the upper airway, typically during inhalation. Any membranous part of the airway lacking cartilaginous support, including the tongue, soft palate, uvula, tonsillar pillars and pharyngeal walls, can vibrate,” (Lynn A. D’Andrea , sleep specialist at the University of Michigan). While a person is asleep, their muscle tone reduces, making one relax. While this happens, it can make the extent of the airway space smaller, causing limits on how much air can get through. The restricted space in the airways causes the vibrating sound, which is snoring. When there are sudden stops in a persons snoring, it usually is total blockage of the airways and this can be due to oxygen levels going down quickly. It can also be due to the person waking up for a second. Snoring usually leads to poor sleep, causing a person to have fatigue.

Causes of Snoring:

Alcohol/smoking/medications- Drinking alcohol, smoking, and some medications, like tranquilizers, can make the relaxation of muscles increase, which leads to more snoring. Also, if you are a smoker and snore then you should quit smoking. Smoking causes airways to inflame and causes it to swell, making the airways even smaller.

Age- As a person gets older their throat becomes smaller. Obviously a person can not do anything about this, so changing your sleeping habits are the only thing you can do.

Being overweight- Weak muscle tone and fat tissues contribute to making someone snore. Exercising daily and eating healthy can sometimes be the only things you need to do in order to stop snoring.

Nasal/sinus problems- Congested airways and/or a stuffy nose clearly make breathing hard and usually leads to snoring.

Sleeping posture- Sleeping flat on your back can cause a person’s throat to relax and block their air passage. Changing your sleep position can help. Sleeping on your side can help snoring

The way you’re built- Surprisingly, men have narrower air pathways than women do, which is why more men snore. “A narrow throat, a cleft palate, enlarged adenoids, and other physical attributes that contribute to snoring are often hereditary,”(HelpGuide).

Studies on Snoring:

“New forms of treatment for snoring focusing on objective measures were needed. We tested the effectiveness of oropharyngeal exercises to reduce snoring,” said Geraldo Lorenzi-Filho, MD, PhD.

Some Exercises Are:

  • Pushing the top of your tongue to the top of the mouth and sliding your tongue towards the back
  • Put the back of your tongue against the bottom of your mouth while still keeping the tip of the tongue touching the bottom, front row of teeth.

A lot of snoring may lead to memory loss at an early age, according to a new study.

This specific study, conducted by Dr. Ricardo Osorio at NYU Langone Medical Center, found that the people who had trouble breathing when they sleep were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment way earlier than the people who had no issues breathing while asleep.

During the study, people were looked at if they had mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s. It found that the people with problems breathing were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment around age 77. The people who did not have distress breathing were diagnosed at age 90.

“The age of onset of MCI for people whose breathing problems were treated was almost identical to that of people who did not have any breathing problems at all,” (Dr. Ricardo Osorio).

Remedies:

There are some remedies that can help a person from snoring. There are devices that open the nasal passages while someone is asleep. Some are as simple as the “Breathe Right” brand nasal strips. These strips open nasal breathing by lifting and opening the passages of the nose. There are also surgeries and procedures that a person can get to open their airways and nasal passages. Laser surgery that takes away vibratory tissue from the back of the airway has a success rate of 50-100%.

man-snoring-in-bed-350

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-people-snore/

https://www.chestnet.org/News/Press-Releases/2015/05/Snoring-keeping-you-up-at-night

5 thoughts on “Why Do We Snore?

  1. Patrick Hryckiewicz

    I never knew that snoring could actually be harmful to a persons health! I wonder if there were more studies than the one you mentioned, and if not, why? If there aren’t many studies then it’s probably because many people don’t see snoring as a relevant/harmful issue. According to this article, people who snore are more likely to have a stroke. It also says that people can get headaches, have heart disease, or tend to be overweight if they are snorers. I think another angle to look at it would be to check out how it hurts the people around them. Obviously snoring would keep people awake, causing them to get less sleep and be tired throughout the day, but does it do anything else?

  2. Natalia P Loureiro

    I found this blog quite interesting, specially when it came to men being associated with higher rates of snoring! HA! So that’s why most of my male family members snore like a freight train. It is honestly unbelievably disruptive, especially to the sleep of others (most importantly mine). However, what I find most appealing in this blog was the fact that snoring could in fact cause cognitive problems in someone. I wonder why that is? Is it because since the nasal passages are blocked making breathing more difficult less oxygen is being channeled to the brain which in turn negatively impacts it? I wonder if that could be the case since usually people snore for years on end (at least in my experience). There have been mattresses designed to deal with snoring issues ( i guess on individuals who are in the group that snores due to sleeping posture). This is the recently advertised mattress that supposedly does wonders for a snoring partner. I wonder is this technology is indeed plausible and if people who snore may reduce their likelihood of having cognitive issues by buying it.

  3. Michael Bliss

    This post is very relevant and interesting. My roommate has a bit of a snoring problem. I never thought much about it, and I never knew that it was actually a harmful habit that could lead to losses in memory. I think the study that claims that snoring leads to memory loss is very surprising, and thus it needs to be tested further. I wonder if this scientist was looking specifically for a link between snoring and memory, or perhaps it may have been the Texas Sharpshooter problem, in which he measured many things and found that memory loss stuck out by chance.

  4. Victoria Atkinson Scott

    One reason why people snore that you did not include in your blog is sinus issues. It is the blockage of “turbinate in the nasal passage.” My brother grew up snoring and has always had very serious sinus and throat issues. He always had no problem sleeping or quality of sleep, but he would consistently snore extremely loud. The nasal passage and sinus issues can affect breathing and sometimes can relate to sleep apnea. According to the snoring center for sinus problems and snoring, they say that “fortunately, modern science has advanced to the point that blocked turbinates can be quickly diagnosed and fixed (opened) through an office procedure known as Turbinate Coblation.” Link here: http://www.snoringcenter.com/blog/snoring/sinus-problems-and-snoring/

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