Question: Is snoring a serious problem?
Answer: It can be.
Snoring occurs when the muscles at the back of your throat relax during sleep, reducing the size of your airway. As you breathe in and out through this restricted airway, the air movement causes the soft tissue to vibrate, producing the sound we know as snoring.
For many, snoring is not a serious problem. But for some, loud and frequent snoring can signal sleep apnoea.
What is Sleep Apnoea?
Sleep apnoea (also known as sleep apnea) is a serious sleep disorder. It occurs when a person’s breathing repeatedly halts and resumes while sleeping. We call these breathing pauses “apnoeas”. There are several types of sleep apnoea, each with a different cause:
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA): A breathing obstruction can occur in the oral and/or nasal airways. Relaxation of the throat muscles can cause the throat to collapse, closing the airway. A deviated nasal septum, polyps, or nasal swelling due to hayfever can also block the nasal airway.
Central Sleep Apnoea (CSA): In contrast, CSA occurs when the brain fails to send the correct messages to the muscles that control your breathing. It’s a less common form of sleep apnea and tends to be associated with other conditions, such as heart failure.
Complex Sleep Apnoea: This type of sleep apnoea involves elements of both OSA and CSA.
Sleep Apnoea Risk Factors:
- Demographics: The risk of sleep apnea increases with age. Men are generally more likely to suffer from it, though the risk for women does go up after menopause.
- Genetics: People with a family history of sleep apnoea are usually predisposed to it. A large neck circumference and large tonsils or adenoids are also risk factors.
- Health conditions: Obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and chronic nasal congestion all increase the risk of sleep apnoea.
- Drug use: Smoking can inflame the airways, while alcohol and sedatives can cause the throat muscles to become overly relaxed.
The Impact of Sleep Apnea
Sleep Apnea: Impact on Health
All forms of sleep apnea lead to sleep disturbances. Because you’re not getting enough air, your oxygen levels drop, so your brain wakes you up to kickstart your breathing. This could happen multiple times an hour and cause you to wake up coughing or gasping for air. Even though almost 80% of people who suffer from sleep apnea aren’t consciously aware that they’re waking up throughout the night (sometimes more than 30 times per hour), it has a substantial impact on the quality of their sleep.
In the short term, this can cause daily fatigue, headaches, a weakened immune system and difficulty concentrating or regulating mood. Long-term sleep apnea effects on health tend to be even more serious and include increased risk of:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Stroke
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Cognitive decline
- Liver disease
Sleep apnea can also be deadly if a person’s oxygen levels dip too low and their brain fails to wake them up in time.
Sleep Apnea: Impact on Life
Sleep apnea can also substantially impact your quality of life. A lack of restful sleep makes it harder to bounce back from emotional and physical setbacks and sickness. It also increases your stress levels and makes focusing and working productively harder. In the long term, sleep apnea can contribute to reduced life expectancy and the development of chronic health conditions and psychiatric disorders.
Sleep Apnea Treatment
While CSA tends to involve more invasive medical solutions, there are a number of ways to treat OSA without surgery or medication.
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, or CPAP, machines are one of the most common treatment methods. The CPAP machine delivers a constant stream of air through a mask that’s worn during sleep, ensuring the airway remains open at all times.
Though CPAP is an effective way of treating OSA, some people find the mask too uncomfortable or claustrophobic to be a sustainable option. A less invasive alternative is an oral appliance known as a mandibular advancement splint. It’s similar in look and feel to a standard mouthguard and works by repositioning the lower jaw and tongue to prevent the airway from collapsing.
At Stirling Street Dental, our own dental sleep specialist, Dr Jamie Chua, is qualified to treat snoring and sleep apnoea with oral appliances. These appliances are custom-made to ensure a perfect fit for every client.
Contact our friendly team to find out if an oral appliance is right for you or to book a consultation with one of our dental experts.
