Important Snoring Facts

Snoring:

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 provided clear insight into the many problems of snoring. An estimated twenty percent of men in their early thirties snore, compared to nearly five percent of women in the same age bracket. By the time they reach their sixties, these numbers climb significantly, 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.

Young children who snore often do so because of tonsil or adenoid problems. Studies show that as many as six percent of young children snore.

Some healthcare professionals are concerned that snoring, along with its causes and outcomes, is not taken seriously enough in the medical arena. During routine physicals, doctors rarely inquire about the patients' sleeping habits. Studies suggest that while seventy percent of sufferers mention their sleep problems to their doctors, only ten percent try to follow up by applying treatment methods. Similarly, dentists, who design and fit the mouth appliances worn to prevent snoring, almost never inquire about sleeping difficulties with their patients.

The medical field and general public needs to be provided with more education on snoring and related sleep disorders. Sleep apnea, a medical condition that can cause potentially dangerous health problems, is hazardous to both the person suffering from it, and those who come in contact with them.

Researchers have suggested that people with sleep disorders cause more motor vehicle accidents than drunk drivers do. Further statistics show that seventy four percent of people with sleep apnea have been involved in 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.

Contributor Myron Huett contributes to a variety of Internet sites, on healthy living and home health subjects.