The Causes of Snoring and Other Snoring Facts

What’s The Buzz On Snoring?
by Myron Huett

If your sleeping partner’s incessant snoring constantly quashes your dreams of silent nights, there are a few things you need to know.

First and foremost, we all snore from time to time. People of all ages, everywhere in the world, make a lot of nighttime noise. The United States alone has an estimated 40 million heavy-duty snorers, the United Kingdom has about 15 million, and there are over 15 million people snoring every night in Germany. Every one of these people tally up to about a billion people who snore due to blocked nasal airways.

Research has given us some interesting facts about snoring. It’s estimated that twenty percent of men in their early thirties snore, and nearly five percent of women in the same age bracket. By the time they reach their sixties, however, these numbers will escalate to sixty percent of men and forty percent of women.

It’s believed that a higher percentage of men snore, simply because men tend to have larger necks. A man with a neck size of at least seventeen inches is almost guaranteed to snore. There are also more overweight men than women, and that increases the chances of snoring. Of the men who snore, about eighty percent don’t consider it a problem. Instead, they see their wives as light sleepers.

Women who snore are usually shorter and heavier that their female non-snoring counterparts. Men who snore tend to do so through their mouths and noses, although women usually snore only through the nose. The reasons women are less likely than men to snore, is simply because they tend to have smaller necks, larger air passages and a smaller uvula. When the problem surfaces, however, women are more likely than men to find a treatment for the snoring.

Even young children can snore, usually because of an existing problem with the tonsils or adenoids. Studies have shown that up to six percent of young children snore.

Some healthcare professionals believe that snoring, along with its causes and outcomes, is not taken seriously enough in the medical arena. Doctors rarely ask about sleeping habits during routine physicals. Studies show that while seventy percent of people who snore will mention it to their doctors, only ten percent will actually follow up by applying treatment methods. Similarly, while dentists can design and fit mouth appliances to prevent snoring, most will not inquire about sleeping difficulties with their patients.

Medical professionals and people in general, could use more education on snoring and related sleep disorders. Sleep apnea, for example, is a medical condition that can bring about potentially dangerous health problems. It’s an affliction that is hazardous to person suffering from it, and to those around them.

According to recent research, there are more motor vehicle accidents caused by those with sleep disorders than those caused by drunk drivers. Studies have shown that seventy four percent of people with sleep apnea have had at least one car accident.

Over eighty percent of snorers are not aware of the problem until it is pointed out to them. As they blissfully sleep, others struggle to rest against the ongoing racket. If someone in your home snores, or tells you that you’ve been snoring, it’s worth speaking with a doctor. Snoring can be the first indication of underlying sleep disorders.

Author Myron Huett is a freelancer for several Internet magazines, on exercise fitness and healthy habit topics.