Care For Your Sleep

Snoring is quite a serious problem that the majority of senior people have to experience. It is a condition when the air a person takes in causes vibrations of the relaxed tissues in the throat. As a result, quite loud and unpleasant harsh sounds are created. Snoring is not only disturbing for the people around, it can also indicate pretty serious health problems. According to the specialists, the main causes of snoring include such factors as having extra weight, suffering from sleep apnea, nasal conditions and the specifics of mouth anatomy, alcohol consumption before going to sleep, and others.

Actually, ineffective weight management should be considered the most common cause and the most serious inclination to snoring. Recent researches demonstrated that those people who are affected by snoring usually have extra weight and have to fight against other consequences of this problem (including breathlessness, varicose veins, etc.). Based on the findings of such studies, the scientists offered a new approach to the treatment, which can help thousands of people stop snoring.

The experts are convinced that in order to achieve positive results and stop snoring, it can be enough to lower the person’s weight for 10%, and this will cause a substantial snoring relief for quite a long period of time. “In the majority of people, extra weight causes cessation of breathing at night, that is why the risk of developing such habit as snoring is much higher,” a Spanish researcher comments. According to this scientists, snoring relief is something very important as snoring is linked to serious disruption of cardio-vascular system function and can cause a stroke.

The experiments in Spain involved middle-aged men and women, who suffered from regular snoring. They were offered a healthy nutrition plan and effective weight management techniques, which helped the participants to shed 20-25 lbs. As a result, 35% of the participants managed to achieve a substantial snoring relief and be back to normal breathing patterns during their night’s sleep. At that those participants, who did not follow the diet displayed no changes in their night’s snoring routine.

It is a known fact that about 25% of men and women above 45 suffer from serious snoring and sleep apnea. At that, about 3% of those experience gasping and numerous interruptions in breathing, which eventually lead to constant sleep interruption at night. Recently, a group of British specialists carried out  a series of researches, which ended up with some disappointing findings. They registered new scientific evidence of the fact that snoring affects our brain activity and increases the risks of having a stroke.

The sleep of 13 volunteers (12 male and 1 female) with heavy forms of snoring (obstructive apnea) was under close observation of the scientists. It was found out that there are certain bio-chemical changes that occur in the brain under effect of snoring. Most likely, the brain is affected by a lack of oxygen caused even by a short interruption of breathing, which occurs in people with sleep apnea. Negative effect of such interruptions in breathing is very strong, that is why the specialists suggest to revise our attitude toward snoring and not to delay treatment of this ailment.

Moreover, obstructive apnea and hypopnea proved to cause decreased blood flow to brain, as well as create extra pressure on the chest and heart. The scientists say that every night the people with obstructive apnea have to fight for breathing with the same efforts as the ones they would have to spend for breathing with a hand over their nose and mouth. According to Dr. Kingman P. Strohl of Case Western Reserve University, reduced blood flow to the brain caused by severe snoring increases risks for stroke.