Is snoring a good sleep? In fact, it is a major enemy of health
Snoring, snoring "and" snoring, is a common phenomenon in life. Some people can fall asleep at night when they lie down in bed, and snore very loudly, and many people around them think that this is a good performance of sleep.
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But snoring is actually very harmful, snoring serious and even accompanied by apnea, that is, when the snoring stops, breathing will also stop, some people will suddenly wake up after a few seconds or even dozens of seconds, the incidence of this type of sleep apnea phenomenon in the general population of 4% to 6%.
People with sleep apnea have very poor sleep quality and tend to doze off during the day. In addition, the lack of oxygen caused by apnea has a great impact on human health, which can easily lead to the occurrence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and even the possibility of sudden death during sleep. Therefore, we need to be alert to snoring.
Why do people snore?
The reason for snoring is the narrowing of the airway.
When we fall asleep, our whole body muscles relax, and the muscles in the throat area also relax, which makes our airway narrow. If the airway becomes too narrow, the airflow will become agitated from the original smoothness, which will trigger vibrations at the ends of the throat.
When these vibrations become pronounced, a rough sound is produced, which is known in medical circles as "snoring". The narrower the airway, the louder the snoring sound [1].
This means that any cause of narrowing of the airway can lead to snoring, which generally includes both physiologic and pathologic causes.
Obesity is one of the common physiological causes, where fat accumulates in the throat of obese people, narrowing the pharyngeal cavity and thus leading to snoring. In addition, excessive physical fatigue, smoking or alcohol consumption can also cause relaxation of the throat muscles after sleep, inducing or aggravating snoring.
Pathological causes are mostly seen in diseases of the nasopharynx, such as nasal polyps, enlarged turbinates, enlarged tonsils, chronic pharyngitis, etc. These diseases can cause narrowing of the nasopharynx, resulting in poor airflow in the respiratory tract during sleep. Besides, central apnea caused by central nervous system tumor, trauma, stroke and encephalitis can also lead to snoring.
According to statistics, people who snore account for 20% to 30% of the total population, and its proportion is higher in middle-aged people. The probability of suffering from hypertension, stroke and cerebral thrombosis is much higher among middle-aged and elderly snoring people than the general population.
Moreover, with the relaxation of pharyngeal muscles in the elderly, when combined with cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pulmonary heart disease, it is more likely to have posterior tongue drop and then apnea hypoventilation syndrome. In other words, older people who snore are more likely to develop apnea.
What is sleep apnea syndrome?
When a normal person sleeps, breathing is deep, slow, even and steady, and no sound is made. If the snoring sound is like thunder, intermittent, with ups and downs, it proves that the upper airway is severely obstructed.
If from time to time you will hold your breath, have difficulty breathing, or interrupt or pause your breathing for a few seconds or more than 10 seconds, you can show signs of oxygen deprivation such as blue lips, and you are often woken up during sleep, if the number of pauses in breathing during 7 hours of sleep at night exceeds 30 times and the duration of each pause exceeds 10 seconds, it is clinically diagnosed as sleep apnea syndrome.
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Middle-aged and elderly people are a high-risk group for sleep apnea syndrome, with an incidence of 20% to 40%.
People with sleep apnea syndrome snore during sleep and have open-mouth breathing, frequent breathing stops, restless sleep, are repeatedly awakened during sleep, and experience angina pectoris, irregular heart rate or increased nocturnal urination during the night.
These people are also very drowsy when they wake up and have symptoms such as increased blood pressure and headache after waking up. In the long run, snoring will not only increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents, but also make a person's memory diminish, slow reactions, and even depression in some older people.
Prevention of snoring in daily life
What are the methods?
The first is to change your lifestyle, such as quitting smoking and drinking, and adjusting your sleep posture.
Smoking can damage the respiratory mucosa, aggravate respiratory symptoms and make respiratory obstruction worse. Alcohol reduces the movement of the muscles around the upper airway and increases the risk of sleep apnea syndrome. Therefore, quit smoking and alcohol, especially avoid drinking alcohol before bedtime to better prevent snoring.
In addition, try to avoid lying on your back when sleeping, you can take a side sleeping position, which can open the airway and reduce snoring.
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Second, do not eat too much before going to bed, especially the elderly with gastroesophageal reflux, pay attention to the head of the bed properly elevated to avoid choking and accidental inhalation caused by reflux food.
Third, try to use sedative-hypnotic drugs to aid sleep before bedtime, especially for patients with combined chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or sequelae of cerebrovascular disease, so as not to aggravate the inhibition of the central respiratory regulation.
Fourth, obese people should control their diet and enhance physical exercise. Only weight loss and weight control can most thoroughly solve the problem of airway compression.
Fifth, the elderly should pay attention to blood pressure monitoring and take antihypertensive drugs on time. To prevent sudden events such as myocardial infarction and stroke.
Sixth, snoring patients should prevent colds and treat nasal obstructive diseases in time.
Seventh, it is recommended that patients with severe snoring should go to the respiratory department for sleep breathing monitoring and receive positive airway pressure ventilation, oral appliances or surgical treatment according to the results.
In conclusion, snoring is a respiratory disease that requires active prevention to maintain good health. If snoring is a temporary phenomenon caused by drinking, fatigue, taking medication, etc., then there is no need for treatment and only the external causes of snoring can be removed.
However, if you snore for a long time and also have symptoms of nocturnal apnea, especially in the elderly, you should go to the hospital in time to find the cause and treat it accordingly.
Author: Lu Xiang, Chief Physician, Run Run Hospital, Nanjing Medical University
Reviewed by: Guo Shubin, Chief Physician, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University
Reference.
[1] Richard Weissman. The night brain: the secret of automatic learning during sleep. Chen L., Translated. Hunan: Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House, 2018.
(Science China)