You’re better off smoking than snoring…
Snoring rarely bothers the person snoring but often deprives others from restful sleep, even when sleeping in a different room.
Snoring is a sign that your lungs aren’t able to get enough oxygen because of a narrowing of the airway; usually from behind the tongue or soft palate. The sound is made from the vibration of the tissues in the throat as the air try’s to rush through.
Snoring is often predictive (up to 70% of the time) of a more serious condition called obstructive sleep apnea. If the lungs can’t get enough air over a few breathes as you sleep, our brain causes an alarm to slightly wake the snorer and tense the throat to allow a good breath. Then the brain goes back to sleep. If this happens often enough every hour you’ll feel tired in the morning or feel like you haven’t slept well.
Untreated sleep apnea is reported to shorten your life by 12-15 years.
Smoking (in men) only takes 7-10 years away from your life, and diabetes 5-10 years off of your “normal” lifespan.
Imaging what you might miss if your life expectancy was cut short by 12-15 years. Weddings, graduations, grandchildren….
If you snore or are told that you stop breathing during sleep, grind or clench your teeth at night, you should consider a sleep evaluation. Diagnosing a possible sleep breathing disorder begins with a simple assessment that can help identify some risk factors.
Email us here requesting an “ARES questionnaire”. We’ll send a simple self-assessment that screens your risk for obstructive sleep apnea.
