HEALTH & WELLNESS
Snoring: Nothing to yawn at i f i a t
DR. MICHAEL DOBLIN
Does your significant other keep you up at night with snores loud enough to compete with a jackhammer? If so, you’ re far from alone in your sleep woes. Roughly 40 to 60 percent of adults snore, and their spouses suffer“ second-hand snoring” and sleep, on average, 62 minutes less per night, according to a Mayo Clinic report.
Much more than an annoyance, snoring and the more serious sleep apnea, a disorder characterized by frequent pauses or interruptions with breathing during sleep, can have many minor and major health implications. b c s
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Causes and effects
Typically, air passes through the nose and past the flexible structures in the back of the throat such as the soft palate, uvula and tongue. During sleep, the muscles relax, but normally the airway stays open. When an airway partially constricts or collapses, the air passing through it causes the pharyngeal soft tissues to vibrate, resulting in snoring sounds.
Though not everyone who snores has sleep apnea, snoring is a common symptom of the disorder. Approximately 70 percent of people who snore loudly have sleep apnea. Patients with sleep apnea often make choking or gasping sounds, and are constantly shifting sleep positions in their body’ s restless attempts to breathe.
Snoring and obstructive sleep apnea( OSA) share similar causes. OSA occurs when the tissue in the upper airway collapses, blocking the airway and causing the airflow to stop. These breathing pauses or collapses, which can happen hundreds of times per night, can be as brief as 10 to 30 seconds or last as long as a minute or more.
82 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ SEPTEMBER 2016