Dr. Virend Somers, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist with a focus on sleep apnea, says it's a serious medical condition that can cause heart problems and other health issues. Dr. Somers co-authored a recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea and its impact on cardiovascular disease.

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Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when a person stops and starts breathing while asleep. It happens because the throat muscles relax and block the airway.

"The tongue can fall backwards and can obstruct the airway, causing either snoring or obstruction," says Dr. Somers.

When a person is breathing normally, their blood oxygen saturation level is usually between 95% and 100%. Dr. Somers says obstructive sleep apnea can drop that oxygen level down to as low as 70% or 60%. It can cause high blood pressure and strain your cardiovascular system, increasing the risk of heart problems. 

"What we can do is give you an oxygen monitor to wear at home and look at the oxygen tracing. And if it looks problematic, then you can have a sleep study," he says.

If you're diagnosed with sleep apnea, treatment may include weight loss; a continuous positive airway pressure machine, or CPAP; a mouthpiece designed to keep the throat open; postural therapy to prevent you from sleeping on your back; or even surgery or implanting a device that stimulates the airway to be more open during sleep.

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As many as half of adults sometimes snore. Snoring occurs when air flows past relaxed tissues in your throat, causing the tissues to vibrate as you breathe, which creates those irritating sounds. Sometimes snoring may indicate a serious health condition. In addition, snoring can be a nuisance to your partner.

Lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, avoiding alcohol close to bedtime or sleeping on your side, can help stop snoring.

In addition, medical devices and surgery are available that may reduce disruptive snoring. However, these aren't suitable or necessary for everyone who snores.

Snoring is often associated with a sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Not all snorers have OSA, but if snoring is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, it may be an indication to see a doctor for further evaluation for OSA:

• Noise during sleep
• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Morning headaches
• Sore throat
• Restless sleep
• Gasping or choking at night
• High blood pressure
• Chest pain at night
• Your snoring is so loud it's disrupting your partner's sleep
• You wake up choking or gasping

 

To prevent or quiet snoring, try these tips:

• If you're overweight, lose weight. People who are overweight may have extra tissues in the throat that contribute to snoring. Losing weight can help reduce snoring.
• Sleep on your side. Lying on your back allows your tongue to fall backward into your throat, narrowing your airway and partially obstructing airflow. Try sleeping on your side. If you find that you always end up on your back in the middle of the night, try sewing a tennis ball in the back of your pajama top.
• Raise the head of your bed. Raising the head of your bed by about 4 inches may help.
• Nasal strips or an external nasal dilator. Adhesive strips applied to the bridge of the nose help many people increase the area of their nasal passage, enhancing their breathing. A nasal dilator is a stiffened adhesive strip applied externally across the nostrils that may help decrease airflow resistance so you breathe easier. Nasal strips and external nasal dilators aren't effective for people with sleep apnea, however.
• Treat nasal congestion or obstruction. Having allergies or a deviated septum can limit airflow through your nose. This forces you to breathe through your mouth, increasing the likelihood of snoring.Don't use an oral or spray decongestant for more than three days in a row for acute congestion unless directed to do so by your doctor. Long-term use of these medications can have a rebound effect and make your congestion worse. Ask your doctor about a prescription steroid spray if you have chronic congestion.To correct a structural defect in your airway, such as a deviated septum, you may need surgery.
• Limit or avoid alcohol and sedatives. Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages at least two hours before bedtime, and let your doctor know about your snoring before taking sedatives. Sedatives and alcohol depress your central nervous system, causing excessive relaxation of muscles, including the tissues in your throat.
• Quit smoking. Smoking cessation may reduce snoring, in addition to having numerous other health benefits.
• Get enough sleep. Adults should aim for at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. The recommended hours of sleep for children vary by age. Preschool-aged children should get 11 to 12 hours a day. School-age children need at least 10 hours a day, and teens should have nine to 10 hours a day.

When to see a doctor

See your doctor if you have any of the above symptoms. These may indicate your snoring is caused by a more serious condition, such as obstructive sleep apnea.

If your child snores, ask your pediatrician about it. Children can have obstructive sleep apnea too. Nose and throat problems — such as enlarged tonsils — and obesity often can narrow a child's airway, which can lead to your child developing sleep apnea.

Read this related article:
Mayo Clinic Q and A: Lifestyle changes and treatment options may help with snoring.

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DEAR MAYO CLINIC:

ANSWER: Although they do reduce snoring, continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machines usually are prescribed for people who have sleep apnea, and not for snoring alone. If your snoring is a symptom of sleep apnea, there are a number of steps you can take to try to make the CPAP machine more comfortable. Other treatment options and lifestyle changes may help, too. If the problem is confined to just snoring, then a variety of alternatives are available.

Sleep apnea is a serious medical condition in which breathing stops and starts repeatedly during sleep. Loud snoring is a common symptom. A CPAP machine relieves sleep apnea by delivering air pressure through a mask placed over your nose while you sleep. With CPAP, the air pressure is somewhat greater than that of the surrounding air, so it keeps your upper airway passages open, preventing apnea and snoring.

CPAP is the most common and reliable way to treat sleep apnea. But the machine can be cumbersome or uncomfortable. Before you go to a different approach, you could try working with the company that supplies your CPAP machine to find a more comfortable mask. Adding heated humidity to the CPAP or lowering the CPAP pressure slightly also may make it easier to tolerate. Before you make these changes, though, talk to your doctor.

With an order from your doctor, you also could switch to a different device. One alternative is a unit that provides what is known as bilevel positive airway pressure, or BIPAP. It delivers more pressure when you inhale and less when you exhale, and tends to be better tolerated than CPAP. Another option is an oral appliance designed to advance your lower jaw to keep your throat open. This type of device is not as reliable as CPAP, but it usually is more comfortable.

You also could try nasal valves. These small, single-use devices are placed over each nostril. They allow air to move in freely. But when you exhale, air must go through small holes in the valve. This increases pressure in the airway and keeps it open.

Weight loss can often help relieve sleep apnea and decrease snoring. If you are overweight, talk to your doctor about creating a weight-loss plan. For many people, returning to a healthy weight can cure sleep apnea.

If you have been using CPAP only for snoring, a number of other remedies may be helpful. First, try a few lifestyle changes. Avoid alcohol, especially before bedtime. It relaxes the muscles in the back of your throat, increasing snoring. Sleep on your abdomen or side, rather than on your back. Sleeping on your back can cause your tongue and soft palate to rest against the back of your throat and block your airway.

If those measures are not enough to eliminate snoring, talk to your doctor. He or she may recommend an oral appliance. These custom-fit dental mouthpieces position your tongue and soft palate to keep your air passage open as you sleep. Or, in a treatment called the pillar procedure, a doctor can insert braided strands of polyester filament into your soft palate, which stiffens it and reduces snoring. Surgery to reduce snoring, which involves trimming and tightening the excess tissue in your throat, also may be an option.

Finally, in some situations, consultation with an ear, nose and throat, or ENT, specialist is appropriate. An ENT evaluation may reveal that nasal obstruction is causing snoring. That type of obstruction can often be effectively eliminated with medical or surgical treatment. — Joseph Kaplan, M.D., Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla.

The post Mayo Clinic Q and A: Lifestyle changes and treatment options may help with snoring appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Sleep. The topic is enough to keep you up at night! An estimated 50 to 70 million Americans have sleep disorders or are sleep deprived. Nine million of them are taking prescription medications in an effort to get a better night's rest. This week on Mayo Clinic Radio we'll tackle the "Sandman" and get some answers - from sleep aids to shift work to the medical consequences of untreated sleep disorders. Eric Olson, M.D., with Mayo's Center for Sleep Medicine, will be our guest. He'll be joined by Joseph Kaplan, M.D., from Mayo's Sleep Disorders Center in Florida. We hope you’ll listen.

Note: You can hear the program LIVE Saturdays at 9 am CT on I Heart Radio via KROC AM. The show is taped for rebroadcast by some affiliates. On Twitter follow #MayoClinicRadio and tweet your questions.

Listen to this week’s Medical News Headlines: News Segment September 21, 2013 (right click MP3).            

Mayo Clinic Radio is a weekly one-hour radio program highlighting health and medical information from Mayo Clinic.

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