Well I shouldn\’t make light of snoring sufferers as it can, literally, be hazardous to your health. It is believed that 10 percent of all snorers go on to develop \”obstructive sleep apnea\”, a potentially very serious and even fatal condition.

What is a snore?
It is the air turbulence that creates the noise, so familiar to snorer\’s suffering partners. This disturbed air flow is caused by the tissues behind the nose and mouth vibrating. This occurs when the airways are partially closed possibly due to lack of neck muscle tone or maybe some other physiological aspect likes a jaw line with an \”overbite\”.

What is a sleep apneic?
It\’s someone, who not only keeps their partner awake with disturbing noises, but also scares the living daylights out of them.

In obstructive sleep apnea, the most common type, the muscle in the upper airways relaxes with sleep, becoming more and more narrow. If the air passage closes completely, the sufferer may stop breathing for 10 seconds or more. Then the brain will (should) kick in to ask for more oxygen, to which the spluttering choking sufferer will oblige, grab a breath and go back to sleep, quite often none the wiser.

It\’s true, larger people tend to be snorers. Snorers tend to be generally less healthy with a higher chance of having high blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks.

Now the question is, do people snore and suffer from sleep apnea because they lead an \”unhealthy lifestyle\” with associated health risks, or is it the breathing disorder that is responsible for a higher than expected link to heart and blood pressure issues.

Research is revealing that snoring and obstructive sleep apnea are related to heart attacks, high blood pressure and strokes, independent of the association with smoking, alcohol intake, and weight.

It is small comfort to those healthy, jogging size eights out there who are afflicted, but around 40 percent of people with sleep apnea are NOT obese.

Causes of Snoring and (so) Sleep Apnea
However weight is a significant factor in the cause of snoring but also age can play a part. As we age the muscles in the throat like the other muscles become less efficient.

Breathing in your own or other people’s smoke can lead to a build up of congestion in the nasal passages making it more likely to breathe through your mouth resulting in more snoring.

Alcohol and drugs can also play their part. Alcohol is a sedative and it significantly relaxes the muscles in the throat, narrowing the passageways causing more snoring. Even after moderate alcohol intake, studies in Australia have shown that normally “harmless” snorers experienced bouts of sleep apnea in the first 2 hours of sleep.
The researchers measured the amount of oxygen absorbed by the blood in snorers who had been drinking and found a decrease of 27% absorption which is that much less oxygen reaching vital organs and tissues.
People who are already snorers and moderate to heavy drinkers are more likely to develop the more dangerous form of snoring, sleep apnea.

Sleeping pills can have a similarly detrimental affect on breathing related sleep problems as the benzodiazepines drugs such as valium, again relaxes the throat muscles meaning more snoring.

Sleeping on your back can lead to snoring as the tongue falls back obstructing the throat.

Allergies such as hay fever and a reaction to house mites can cause that blocked up feeling in the nasal cavities.

Food type can also play their part as some people react with excessive mucus production in the nose and throat after a bout of having dairy consumption.

Snoring and sleep apnea cures don\’t really exist, but the symptoms can be greatly reduced with lifestyle changes and in the case of sleep apnea by using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine.

Author Bio: Lelliot, a long term sufferer of breathing and movement sleep disorders has been researching sleep apnea causes and treatments for 15 years. Get a free email course with tons of information about sleep and how to do it better www.SleepandSleepingTips.com

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: sleep apnea causes, sleeping tips,