Snore

Posted by Chaidir

on Sunday, June 13, 2010

Snoring has been associated with sleep apnea, a breathing disorder linked to elevated blood pressure, cardiovascular stress, headaches, depression, and fatigue.

Snoring, very simply, is caused by
the vibration of the soft tissues at the back of the throat. In general, three factors contribute to these vibrations. They are weak muscles, masses encroaching on the air way (in children, for instance, snoring can almost always be traced to enlarged tonsils and adenoids), and obstructed nasal breathing.

The first factor-weak muscles, explains why most snoring takes place during deep storages at sleep, when throat muscles relax and tongue falls back, causing vibration. Understanding gravity, you can easily see why snoring often occurs when people sleep on their backs.

The second factor-things that crowd the airway can sometimes be blamed on heredity. While the average sized uvula (that fleshly lobe shaped structure that hangs in the back of your throat) measures a quarter inch, some poor souls have one that’s four times as long. Other traits can exacerbate snoring too. Obese people are three times more likely to snore than thin ones (their bulkiness extends throughout their bodies). And smokers’ throats are irritated daily, causing mucous membranes to swell, narrowing the airway.

The third factor-obstructed nasal breathing, can have many causes congestion, allergies, polyps, even a deviated septum are just a few.

In some cases, a sleeper’s airway may be completely blocked, causing breathing to stop for a period before the sleeper is jolted partially awake gasps for air and falls back to sleep. Then the process is repeated. Known as obstructive sleep apnea, this condition can lead to severe cardiac and pulmonary problems, even to death.