When sleep's a snore point

Snoring partners can be a nightmare.

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Barbara Docherty's My Health archive at everybody.co.nz

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Nearly half of all adults snore. Most of the culprits are middle-aged men and the problem often gets worse with age.

Not surprisingly, lack of sleep puts a strain on relationships.

Ronald Pederson, 60, from Hamilton, recalls how his snoring nearly ended his third marriage while he and his wife were on their honeymoon.

"Our caravan in the camping ground was moving for all the wrong reasons. My snoring was waking the wildlife and the happy campers. My relationship was again about to splutter."

Over time snoring can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems and even a stroke.

Inadequate or poor quality sleep and its affects can be life-altering or life-ending if it leads to accidents.

So what causes some people to snore? An inherited narrow jaw, enlarged tonsils, tongue or adenoids or a cleft palate are possible structural reasons.

Blocked or partly blocked nasal passages due to colds, polyps, allergies, medications which dry or irritate nasal passages, and nasal injuries such as a deviated septum can be responsible.

Smoking, alcohol, sleeping tablets and sleeping on your back usually make snoring worse.

In simple terms, we snore because when we are asleep our muscles relax, our airways collapse and our breath has to go through a smaller airway. With narrow airways, the soft tissues vibrate, creating noise. The greater the obstruction, the more noise.

This struggle for air is usually due to several factors and often there is no quick fix.

Simple approaches include sleeping on your side or raising the head of the bed or using pillows to lift your upper body.

Cutting down on alcohol and sleeping pills can help as can avoiding coffee and rich foods before bedtime. Quitting smoking, doing more exercise and losing weight plus blowing your nose before bed could ease the problem.

Keep a sleep diary with your partner's help. Jot down whether you snore with your mouth closed or open, only when on your back or in all positions and whether you stop breathing completely for short periods of time – a condition called obstructive sleep apnoea or OSA.

If you feel tired during the day, see your GP to check for OSA, which cane be a potentially life-threatening condition.

OSA can be treated with specially designed breathing masks called continuous positive airway pressure, CPAP, devices that keep your airway open while you sleep. Other options for snorers, some with mixed success, include dental devices to position the jaw, drug remedies, natural remedies, nasal clips, sprays and even hypnosis.

Surgery to the soft palate of the throat or nasal passages can help severe snorers.

A few minutes a day of throat exercises can help some snorers.

Pederson's wife found the key. He said: "My new wife told me about the breathing techniques she learnt when she sang in opera.

"I used to be a bit of a singer so went back for lessons. It seems to be working and just in the nick of time I reckon."

Try the online OSA sleep questionnaire at www.sleepapnoeanz.org.nz, check out www.singingforsnorers.com and visit www.liveto100.co.nz for more information on sleep problems.

Barbara Docherty is a registered nurse and clinical lecturer at the University of Auckland School of Nursing.

- © Fairfax NZ News