Sleeping Disorder & Insomnia
Snore Wars, the Final Chapter
By Kenneth H. Rifkin, N.D.A few years ago I started seeing more and more people coming to my clinic with snoring complaints. They were being told by their family members that the volume of their snoring was waking up the whole house and on occasion the neighbors. Most had tried the usual snoring remedies with no success.
Author Anthony Burgess said, "Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone." More than 40 million Americans snore- a nightly annoyance to their bedroom companions. According to a National Sleep Foundation survey, twice as many men as women report that they snore every (or nearly every) night- 32 percent of men versus 16 percent of women.
Snoring is often the hardest on the person who has to listen to the snoring. A study at the Sleep Disorders Clinic at the Mayo Clinic found that bedroom companions of heavy snorers lose an average of one hour of sleep per night.
Snoring is a problem that for years was not taken as a health concern by the medical profession. My patients were telling me that it was a serious concern of theirs.
What is snoring?
Snoring is both a sleep and a breathing disorder. Any narrowing of the upper air passages can encourage snoring. Large tonsils or adenoids, a lowering of the soft palate, a too relaxed tongue, elongated uvula (that kidney shaped object that hangs at the back of the mouth), or fatty deposits in the throat can all be looked at as a cause of snoring.
Snoring tends to get worse as people age because tissues in and around the airways start to sag. The mid-forties and up is when snoring really becomes more prevalent, according to the National Sleep Foundation. It is believed that between the ages of 60 and 65, 60 percent of men and 40 percent of women snore.
Why do we only snore when we are asleep?
The noise we hear from someone snoring is produced by a vibration of the tissues in the throat. Throat muscle relaxation increases with sleep and the more relaxed the throat muscles are the greater the likelihood of throat tissue vibration and the sound of snoring.
Contributing factors:
Snoring increases significantly as people get older because the muscle tone in the throat muscles decreases with age.
- Being overweight is a common cause of snoring. A person who gains weight has excess fat deposits in the neck, which narrows the airway. Once men hit a shirt size of 17 they are candidates for weight-related snoring.
- Tranquilizers, alcohol or extreme fatigue can aggravate snoring by deepening a person's sleep, causing a greater than normal relaxation of the muscles and making the tongue to drop back more. The Sleep Disorders Clinic recommends not drinking alcohol less than four hours before bedtime.
- Smoking can contribute to snoring by producing excess mucus and causing throat membranes to swell and restrict air passages
- Sleeping on one's back can cause the tongue to shift closer to the back wall of the throat, which narrows the airways. Elevating the head can help up to 30 percent of snorers, according to Toronto.s Sleep, Nose and Sinus Clinic. Another solution is to sleep on one's side.
Is snoring a health problem?
Snoring is now recognized as a prominent symptom of sleep apnea, a potentially serious condition.
"Slight or occasional snoring may gradually develop into the heavy, more violent snoring that indicates sleep apnea....... The reason why snoring may progress to sleep apnea in some people and not others depends on the sum of various factors: breathing reflexes, structure of the airway, muscle coordination, and inherited tendencies." -Ralph A Pascualy, M.D. Co-Author of "Snoring and Sleep Apnea"
In sleep apnea a person has periods when s/he stops breathing. When a snorer stops breathing during an episode of apnea, that part of the brain that controls respiration is triggered and the snorer is awakened. The snorer doesn't usually know that s/he has momentarily awakened and s/he falls back asleep and starts snoring again. This cycle can repeat itself many times throughout the night.
These awakenings can seriously interfere with the quality of sleep a person gets. Long-standing sleep apnea is thought to be linked to impaired heart function, high blood pressure, mood changes, depression, memory loss, poor concentration and daytime sleepiness. Sleep apnea can lead to "morning headaches, restless legs during sleep, mood swings, choking sensations, impotence, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and even death" according to Dr.Smolley, co-author of "the Snoring Cure". Sleep apnea sufferers often don't dream because of the repeated interruptions of REM sleep.
People who have sleep apnea often wake in the morning feeling more tired than when they went to bed and complain of morning headaches.
If you have symptoms of sleep apnea you should consult a physician, have an examination and if indicated, an overnight sleep study done.
If you don't have sleep apnea, then a few changes in your lifestyle and sleep habits might reduce or possibly eliminate your snoring.
Following are some tips and cautions I give my patients.
- 1. Sleep in a cool, well-ventilated room.
- 2. Darken the room or wear comfortable eye shades (your eyes can sense light even when your lids are closed).
- 3. Eliminate intrusive sounds.
- 4. Eat meals at the same time each day to get your body into a routine.
- 5. Avoid heavy meals before going to bed but don't go to bed hungry.
- 6. Avoid drinks containing caffeine.
- 7. Try to exercise a least every other day but not immediately before sleep.
- 8. Sleep on a firm mattress with a low pillow.
- 9. No smoking and drinking only in moderation; avoid the nightcap before bed.
- 10. Take a homeopathic remedy for snoring.
Is there a cure?
For centuries inventors have been working on a snoring cure. There have been appliances to keep his mouth closed, extend his neck and even a device that would shock the snorer when he started to get noisy.
If you feel that some kind of help is needed to curb the noise, there are some avenues to choose from. Check with your family physician for a doctor with special interest in sleep-related breathing disorders
Modern medicine has studied the use of drug therapy to treat snoring but has not found uniform success with any one drug.
In my clinic I began working on a formula for a safe and effective homeopathic treatment for non-apneic snoring. After much study and reworking of the formula it became the product SnoreStop. It contains several homeopathic pharmaceutical ingredients designed to improve upper airway muscle tone, regulate nasal secretions and decrease nasal allergic reactions.
Simultaneously to my clinical successes a prominent ear, nose and throat physician and a leading authority on sleep apnea, Dr. Derek S. Lipman conducted a study using the active ingredients and found them effective. (Dr. Lipman is also author of the book Snoring from A to ZZZZ.)
SnoreStop was tested in a double-blind clinical study in Portland, Oregon. Some 100 snoring adults wee randomly given either the active ingredient in SnoreStop or a placebo medication by Dr. Lipman. Study subjects was given a snoring diary to be completed by their sleepmate over 10 nights. They documented changes in the frequency and volume of the subject's snoring. The study found the majority of subjects who were taking the active ingredient in SnoreStop Experienced a significant reduction in the frequency and volume of their snoring, according to their bedroom partners, compared to the placebo group. SnoreStop is a simple-to-use, inexpensive, non-habit-forming and effective way to reduce snoring.
If snoring has reached the point of being a health concern, there is the option of surgery. Modern surgical treatment for snoring began in Japan in 1952. By 1980 the procedure was perfected in the United States and included removing the uvula, excess soft palate and the tonsils. In 199- office based laser surgery for snoring became the operation most widely practiced by specialists to treat severe snoring associated with obstructive sleep apnea. Depending on the origin and the severity of the snoring, there are a number of surgical procedures that can be done. The downside of surgery is that it can be very painful and there is no guarantee that it will work in all cases.
If one is still snoring, try a white-noise machine. It is for you, not him/her. The machines make sound that ranges from a windstorm to a waterfall with the goal of blocking out the noise of snoring.
Finally, when all else fails... head for the couch.
Dr. Kenneth H. Rifkin is a naturopathic physician and a licensed acupuncturist in Portland, Oregon.
Green Pharmaceuticals, SnoreStop, The Snoring Specialists and NasoSpray are registered trademarks of Green Pharmaceuticals, Inc. SnoreStop Extinguisher, FastTabs, NasoClear, Green Pharmacy and Green Medicine and 'The Choice is Clear' are trademarks of Green Pharmaceuticals.