by Elspeth Raisbeck

Created on: September 19, 2011

Have you ever thought that snoring could be a health issue?  Ok, an irritated bed partner’s kicks and punches can cause bruising, but snoring that is a symptoms of sleep apnea can cause a whole host of health problems.

Snoring happens when the soft tissues at the back of the mouth – the uvula, the soft palate and/or the tongue vibrate as the air comes and goes when you breathe.  If these tissues are large or bulky it’s more likely that you’ll snore.

Sleep apnea happens when these tissues actually block the airway and you stop breathing for a short time.  When this happens the oxygen levels in the blood drop but the brain’s warning systems knows this and wakes you up.  This constant oxygen desaturation and waking is what can cause health problems.

Click here for more details on what causes snoring and sleep apnea.

People who suffer from sleep apnea will snore.  But people who snore don’t necessarily suffer from sleep apnea.

How do I know if I have sleep apnea?

If:

-          You wake with morning headaches

-          Your partner tells you that you snore very loudly

-          Your partner tells you, or you are aware that you have episodes in the night where you struggle to breathe

-          You partner tells you that you stop breathing while you’re asleep

-          You are constantly tired and need to nap during the day

You may well be having sleep apnea.

There are some tests that can be done to confirm this by a specialist. 

-          These include polysomnography (say polly-somm’nograffy) which is a sleep study done when you sleep in a specially designed room at a hospital.  It is set up to measure what happens to you and your body as you sleep.

-          Some sleep questionnaires are designed to gauge how your sleep is affected.

-          And another test, which is done while you’re sedated, puts a little camera into the nose and the back of the throat so that the tissues can be seen.  This is often done before sleep apnea surgery.

What are the health problems associated with sleep apnea?

If you already

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