By Barbara Basler
A Dallas woman was so distraught by her partner's raucous snoring that she took out a gun and shot him five times as he slept.
Anyone who has been denied deep, comforting sleep, night after night, can understand the woman's wild-eyed frustration, if not her homicidal solution.
Doctors now know that snoring can take an extraordinary toll on those who snore — and on those who lie awake listening to them. Texans are not, of course, the only ones who snort, rumble and rattle the windows through the night: A study of a cross-section of Americans ages 30 to 60 found that 45% of the men and 25% of the women snore.
When the doors are closed, the lights are out and a man and a woman are in bed together, then, "there is a 70% chance someone is snoring," says John W. Shepard Jr., M.D., professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. After age 60 the figure is even higher, especially among women.
"Snoring," Dr. Shepard says, "is one of the most significant sleep disorders, affecting health and quality of life."
As science links heavy snoring to serious medical conditions such as heart disease and stroke, new and improved procedures are helping combat the problem. "If you snore and someone has complained about it, see a doctor," says Carl Hunt, M.D., director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research in Bethesda, Md. "Chronic snoring is by no means routine."
But getting snorers to the doctor can be a struggle, because they can't hear themselves snore and famously deny they do anything of the kind. Doctors say spouses often bring in recordings of the snorer, and when they're really angry, a video.
"The denial rate among snorers is spectacular," says Helene Emsellem, M.D., medical director of the Center for Sleep and Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase, Md.
Dr. Shepard agrees: "A lot of these guys — and they tend to be guys — are just clueless. They say, 'I don't snore,' or 'She's the one with the problem — she's overly sensitive.' It creates a lot of tension."
Snoring, whether faint or ear-splitting, occurs when airflow through the passages at the back of the mouth and nose is obstructed. Several conditions can trigger it — excess tissue in the throat, for example, or allergy problems or alcohol and sedatives, which can relax the tongue or throat muscles enough to block the airway.
Extra weight can mean extra noise. "Fat accumulates in the soft tissue of the throat, and the airway narrows, making it harder to breathe," says sleep specialist David N.F. Fairbanks, M.D., a professor at George Washington University in Washington.
If treating allergies, sleeping on your side, avoiding alcohol and sedatives before bed, or losing weight doesn't relieve your snoring, experts say, see an ear, nose and throat specialist.
Some blockages in the airway require surgery, but there are less radical procedures. Recently, for example, the Food and Drug Administration approved a 10-minute procedure — done with local anesthesia — to implant a tiny polyester device that stiffens the soft palate, thus reducing the vibrations that cause snoring.
Significant others have moved across the hall, down the stairs and into the basement to escape a really obstreperous snorer, so it makes sense that sleep experts tend to measure the magnitude of the snore by how far away it can be heard.
"If you can hear the snoring from another room with the door closed, as a rule of thumb that's going to be obstructive sleep apnea," the Mayo Clinic's Shepard says.
In sleep apnea, the airway is so blocked that breathing stops for seconds at a time, hundreds of times a night. In sleep apnea the airway is so blocked that breathing stops for seconds at a time, hundreds of times a night. "The heart is forced to pump harder to get oxygen, so there is real stress to the whole cardiovascular system — every night," says Norman Schubert, program manager of the Johns Hopkins Sleep Disorder Center in Baltimore.
People with the disorder are exhausted during the day. Some struggle with memory problems, weight gain, impotency or headaches. Half have high blood pressure and at least three times as much risk for stroke as those without sleep apnea.
Shepard estimates that under 10 percent of the 18 million Americans with sleep apnea have been treated. Dave Hargett of Bolingbrook, Ill., is one who did get help. "My whole adult life people told me I was an incredibly loud snorer," he says. "But I just shrugged it off. I didn't get help until my wife was sleeping in the living room and I was falling asleep at work." After he was treated, "I got my life back," says Hargett, now the American Sleep Apnea Association's board chairman.
Standard treatment is a simple, plug-in, bedside-table machine, dubbed the CPAP for "continuous positive airway pressure." The machine pumps air into a sleeper's airway through a small mask worn over the nose or mouth at night. "The CPAP was an overnight cure," says one of Emsellem's patients. "The very first morning I felt wide awake for the first time in years."
Studies have shown that the partners of sleep apneics lose up to one hour of sleep a night. When apnea is treated, the partner's health and outlook improve, too.
Indeed, treating snorers increasingly means treating their partners, who suffer because of sleep disruptions. "Sleep," researcher Hunt says, "is as important as diet and exercise in maintaining good health." That goes for snorers and the people who live with them.
You may be at risk for sleep apnea if:
AARP Bulletin Online June 10, 2008
Copyright 1995–2008, AARP. All rights reserved.
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