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It's night time and you're desperately trying to sleep. Unfortunately, your attempts are made futile by the fact that your spouse is snoring away like there's no tomorrow. While the majority of the population understand the social problems of snoring (mainly relationship strains), snoring has been known to cause sleep deprivation to both themselves and those around them as well as daytime drowsiness and lack of focus. More alarmingly, recent studies have shown positive correlations between snoring and heart attack, stroke and atherosclerosis. So how can someone stop or reduce snoring?

In order to seek possible treatments, it is important to first understand what exactly snoring is and how can it be triggered. Clinically, snoring is defined as "the noise produced during sleep by vibrations of the soft tissues at the back of your nose and throat (1)"caused by obstructed air movement during respiration. This irregular airflow due to obstruction has several possible causes.

1) There may be enough anatomical variations that would predispose a person to closed throat during sleep. Genetics, middle-aged and/or being male results in a narrower throat, which if closed during sleep, could potentially trigger snoring. In addition, in some people, their tongue may block the airways during sleep.

2) Sufficient muscle weakness in the throat could cause a collapse. Muscle relaxation can be caused by the consumption of alcohol, medication and smoking.

3) Excess fat deposition in the throat could result in collapse, particularly if you lie on your back when sleeping. Obesity is caused by a combination of genetics and lifestyle factors.

4) Lastly, but not the least, obstruction to the nasal passageway, caused by infections, allergies or asthma, could make respiration during sleep more difficult, predisposing you to snoring.

Whatever the cause, it is clear that treatments would be aimed at clearing the blockages in the breathing passage.

What treatment you undertake would obviously depend on what your snoring is caused by. For those with anatomically variations such as narrower throats or a tongue that lies too far back in the mouth, sleeping on the side (as opposed to on the back) could potentially be a solution. Those with excess fat deposition around the neck region should undergo weight loss while muscle weakness may be reduced or stopped if the trigger such as alcohol or cigarettes is removed.

In addition to these self-help methods, some people also buy nose-clips, lubricating sprays and "anti-snore" pillows and clothing to further promote a clear unobstructed nasal passageway. For those with severe snoring problems, dental appliances may sometimes be undertaken to move the jaw and consequently, the tongue, forward so that during sleep, the tongue won't fall back and block the airway. In others, surgery may be taken to widen the airways although this has severe risk factors such as surgery scars which could potentially narrow the airways even further. Thus, methods described in this paragraph should only be undertaken after you have sought professional medical advice from your general practitioner.

In conclusion, snoring is generally perceived as an annoying social problem that has little to no medical significance. This is largely true. However, the potential medical problems that snoring can predispose not to mention the other burdens of snoring such as sleep deprivation and daytime drowsiness means it would be beneficial to seek solutions. Most people would

References:

(1) http://www.emedicinehealth.com /snoring/article_em.htm

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S noring

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