Is snoring a sign of a serious health issue? How does one prevent snoring?
-- Bob S., Medford
Snoring is both subjective and objective, says Dr. Eric Overland, a Medford sleep specialist.
"At any one time probably 20 to 40 percent of the population is snoring some of the night or all of the night," Overland says. "For most of them it's not a health problem. It's a problem for their partner.
"People make noises when they breathe," Overland explains. The sounds are created when air moving toward the lungs causes the soft tissues at the base of the tongue and the soft palate to flutter.
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Many factors determine whether a person will snore. The shape of the face and nose, for example, help determine how air moves through the throat. Nasal polyps or a deviated septum (an uneven wall between the nasal passages) also can make one prone to snoring.
How we live affects whether we snore, too. Smoking causes the lining of the throat to swell, which shrinks the throat opening. Air passing through the smaller orifice moves faster, causing more fluttering of the soft tissues.
"If your father and your mother snored, you're likely to have the same-shaped throat, and you're more likely to snore," he says. Drinking alcohol at bedtime relaxes the tongue muscles, which also speeds up the air flow, and can make someone more prone to snoring.
Overland says snoring often occurs intermittently during the night. Some people snore only while lying on their back. Many snore intermittently during their first few hours of sleep. Others snore only in dream sleep.
Although about half the population snores at one time or another, Overland says only 2 to 4 percent of us are troubled by the medical condition known as obstructive sleep apnea (or simply "sleep apnea"), in which the throat opening temporarily collapses during sleep.
Breathing stops when the throat collapses, and sleep is interrupted.
People who have sleep apnea don't get adequate restorative sleep, which can cause fatigue and forgetfulness. It also can contribute to other medical conditions such as hypertension and heart disease.
Sleep apnea can affect anyone, but it causes more problems for overweight people because they tend to have more fleshy tissue at the back of the throat. (Only about half of the people who have sleep apnea are obese.)
Overland says people who have sleep apnea often are heavy snorers, but it can be difficult for physicians to distinguish true sleep apnea from "ordinary" heavy snoring.
Snoring seems to happen most often when people sleep on their back, so someone who wants to stop snoring can try sleeping on either side.
Some people elevate their head to change the air flow pattern, either by raising the head of the bed a few inches or using several pillows. Others have sewn a tennis ball into the back of their pajamas to keep them from sleeping on their back.
Overland says some over-the-counter products, such as the adhesive strips that open the nostrils, provide relief from snoring for some people, but most of the remedies are just quick ways to separate people from their money.
Call Bill Kettler with your medical questions at 776-4492, or e-mail them to: bkettler@mailtribune.com or send them to: Mail Tribune, Ask Your Doctors, P.O. Box 1108, Medford OR 97501.
