Snoring is the vibration of respiratory structures and the resulting sound due to obstructed air movement during breathing while sleeping. The sound may be soft or loud and unpleasant. Snoring during sleep may be a sign, or first alarm, of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Research suggests that snoring is one of the factors of sleep deprivation.
Snoring is the result of the relaxation of the uvula and soft palate. These tissues can relax enough to partially block the airway, resulting in irregular airflow and vibrations. Snoring can be attributed to one or more of the following:
Genetic predisposition, a proportion of which may be mediated through other heritable lifestyle factors such as body mass index, smoking and alcohol consumption.
Throat weakness, causing the throat to close during sleep.
Mispositioned jaw, often caused by tension in the muscles.
Obesity that has caused fat to gather in and around the throat.
Obstruction in the nasal passageway.
Obstructive sleep apnea.
Sleep deprivation.
Relaxants such as alcohol or other drugs relaxing throat muscles.
Sleeping on one's back, which may result in the tongue dropping to the back of the mouth.
Mouth breathing
Snoring is known to cause sleep deprivation to snorers and those around them, as well as daytime drowsiness, irritability, lack of focus and decreased libido. It has also been suggested that it can cause significant psychological and social damage to those affected. Multiple studies reveal a positive correlation between loud snoring and risk of heart attack (about +34% chance) and stroke (about +67% chance).
Though snoring is often considered a minor condition, snorers can sometimes experience severe impairment of lifestyle. The between-subjects trial by Armstrong et al. discovered a statistically significant improvement in marital relations after snoring was surgically corrected. This was confirmed by evidence from Gall et al., Cartwright and Knight and Fitzpatrick et al.
Studies have associated loud snoring with the development of carotid artery atherosclerosis.
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Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep-related breathing disorder and is characterized by recurrent episodes of complete or partial obstruction of the upper airway leading to reduced or absent breathing during sleep. These episodes are termed "apneas" with complete or near-complete cessation of breathing, or "hypopneas" when the reduction in breathing is partial. In either case, a fall in blood oxygen saturation, a disruption in sleep, or both, may result.
Sleep medicine is a medical specialty or subspecialty devoted to the diagnosis and therapy of sleep disturbances and disorders. From the middle of the 20th century, research has provided increasing knowledge of, and answered many questions about, sleep–wake functioning. The rapidly evolving field has become a recognized medical subspecialty in some countries. Dental sleep medicine also qualifies for board certification in some countries. Properly organized, minimum 12-month, postgraduate training programs are still being defined in the United States.
Sleep deprivation, also known as sleep insufficiency or sleeplessness, is the condition of not having adequate duration and/or quality of sleep to support decent alertness, performance, and health. It can be either chronic or acute and may vary widely in severity. Acute sleep deprivation is when an individual sleeps less than usual or does not sleep at all for a short period of time – normally lasting one to two days but tends to follow the sleepless pattern for longer with no outside factors in play.
Explores water balance, homeostasis, and the physiological mechanisms of water gain and loss in animals.
Covers the body's ability to maintain stable internal conditions despite external changes, focusing on mechanisms regulating temperature, water balance, and metabolism.
The centrosome is an organelle that resides at the center of most animal cells and comprises two microtubule-based centriole cylinders surrounded by pericentriolar material (PCM). The centrosome plays a fundamental role for nucleating and organizing a radi ...
Objectives: The main energy reserve of the brain is glycogen, which is almost exclusively localized in astrocytes. We previously reported that cerebral expression of certain genes related to glycogen metabolism changed following instrumental sleep deprivat ...