The Trouble With Snoring and Sleep Apnea

by James Hunt

There's no doubt that snoring becomes a real problem when someone else is around to hear it. However, snorers may face a more serious issue than an upset partner and a night on the couch. Snoring can be indicative of a problem that deprives many people of sleep: sleep apnea.



Snoring is caused by an array of things. Dental problems can cause the noisy affliction. And sometimes a cold or other respiratory problem causes raspy noises to emerge from the sleeper. However, there is a condition known as sleep apnea that causes snoring.

The main difference with snoring due to sleep apnea is that the snoring is the result of noises made as the brain arouses the sleeper to continue breathing. Yes, continue breathing. Sleep apnea is a condition where the sleep actually stops breathing for one reason or another.

Sleep apnea results in poor and fragmented sleep. While the person suffering from the condition may not realize he or she is waking, the body knows, and the quality and amount of necessary REM sleep is diminished.

While occasional snoring is something everyone's partner has to deal with, it is important to have constant and persistent snoring checked out by a health care professional. As with most snoring-related conditions, sleep apnea is treatable. Creating a plan with help from a qualified professional can stop the snoring and help reduced blood pressure, fatigue, headaches and memory problems that result from inadequate sleep.

It is important to remember that the trouble with snoring is not, in fact the trouble. Snoring is always one of the symptoms of another problem. The problem may be a cold or it may be related to some dental or other cosmetic issue. Or it might be sleep apnea. In any case, the causes of persistent snoring should be found and treated.

About the author:

James Hunt has spent 15 years as a professional writer and researcher covering stories that cover a whole spectrum of interest. Read more at www.snoring-central.info

Latest Sleep Apnea News

Study shows how sleep apnea may cause stroke (Reuters via Yahoo! News)
A dangerous type of snoring known as sleep apnea can cause stroke by decreasing blood flow, raising blood pressure and harming the brain's ability to modulate these changes, researchers reported on Tuesday.

What Is The Connection Between Sleep Apnea, Stroke And Death? (Science Daily)
Obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain and eventually harms the brain's ability to modulate these changes and prevent damage to itself. The findings may help explain why people with sleep apnea are more likely to suffer strokes and to die in their sleep.

Sleep Apnea Connection to Stroke and Death Explained by New Study (Senior Journal)
Jan. 6, 2009 –Obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain and eventually harms the brain’s ability to modulate these changes and prevent damage to itself, according to a new study.

Study helps explain connection between sleep apnea, stroke and death (PhysOrg)
Obstructive sleep apnea decreases blood flow to the brain, elevates blood pressure within the brain and eventually harms the brain's ability to modulate these changes and prevent damage to itself, according to a new study published by The American Physiological Society. The findings may help explain why people with sleep apnea are more likely to suffer strokes and to die in their sleep.

Factors Other Than Central Sleep Apnea May Contribute To Poor Sleep Quality In Heart-Failure Patients (Medical News Today)
A study in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Sleep demonstrates that the frequent arousals from sleep that occur in heart failure patients with central sleep apnea (CSA) may reflect the presence of another underlying arousal disorder rather than being a defensive mechanism to terminate apneas.

Diabetics face sleep apnea risk (Detroit Free Press)
Here's a wake-up call to the millions of American men and women with Type 2 diabetes: Snoring at night or nodding off during the day may be symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, a potentially life-threatening problem affecting one out of three diabetics.

St. Mary’s opens sleep disorder center (St. Louis Business Journal)
SSM St. Mary’s Health Center has opened a new facility to treat people who suffer from daytime sleepiness, insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome and other sleep disorders.

Study Says Lack of Sleep Adds Plaque to Heart (ThirdAge)
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- People in their 30s and 40s who got less sleep at night were more likely to develop the early buildup of plaque in the arteries of their heart , according to a new study.

CPAP's Future in an iPod World (PRWeb via Yahoo! News)
Metis Laboratories announces the PapWear(TM) system, a paradigm shift away from the current sleep apnea systems marketed by Respironics (PHG), ResMed (RMD), Fisher Paykel Healthcare (FPH), et al.

Going to the 'sleep nerd'; Technologist helps diagnose sleep disorders (Casper Star-Tribune)
GILLETTE -- Mark Beil has received a family heirloom that he could do without. They call it "the Beil Nose."