Excessive Snoring

A Life-threatening Noise - Excessive snoring

Let's admit it, every one of us has snored even once in our lives. Even babies snore but it's most frequent in men (about 45% of the world's population) while 30% of women are also snorers. However, there has to be a demarcation line between mild snoring to habitual or excessive snoring. Little babies may tend to snore because their nasal passages aren't mature enough yet; they also haven't learned to swallow excessive secretions in their throat that makes them produce the snoring sound. It is also normal for pregnant women to snore especially at the later stages of pregnancy. Snoring at a certain position is also normal. Drunken individuals also tend to snore in their sleeps.

However, if snoring occurs every night, and becomes so loud (up to 80-90 decibels) that the person in the other room, or even the person snoring, can hear the sound, it might already be excessive snoring. Excessive snoring is generally caused by an obstruction in the air passage and various reasons initiates this. Heredity may be one cause of snoring by inheriting a narrow throat. Obesity is another cause of snoring as obese people have fats accumulated around their necks narrowing their air passage.

Also, when people age the tongue and throat muscles tend to become flabby. This causes the tongue to fall backwards during sleep or the throat muscles to narrow in. Snoring is a common occurrence for men because they have narrower air passages than women. Medications, alcohol, and smoking are also some of the culprits in snoring.

Excessive snoring leads to, or could be a symptom of, some serious health problems. Excessive snoring in most cases has been associated with more serious health problems such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and sleep apnea. Apnea means "want of breath" and a person in this condition actually stops breathing for 10-30 seconds and at several times over the night.

Sleep apnea is a life threatening condition. A person suffering from sleep apnea becomes less productive during the day due to sleep deprivation. Being deprived from a sound sleep results to fatigue, irritability, daytime sleepiness, morning headaches, obesity, poor mental and emotional health, poor short-term memory, lack of concentration, severe mood swings, and a slower reaction time.

Furthermore, if sleep apnea progresses, the person in this condition may suffer chest pains, high blood pressure, hypertension, stroke, type II diabetes, and choking or premature death.

Others may consider excessive snoring as harmless and may tend to make a joke out of it. However, it is always best to find a cure for it early on before it becomes a life-threatening condition.