Advocates of a healthy lifestyle are in agreement today that everyone needs a good night’s sleep. The evidence is mounting that when a person does not receive a full and restful 7-9 hours of sleep, it can lead to dramatic health consequences, as well as impair mental function.

How much sleep do we need?

The daytime symptoms relating to sleep deprivation can bring on morning headaches; cause a person to be irritable and to burn-out easily. Poor memory and the lack of concentration can lead to poor job performance. It can even lead to feelings of depression. These symptoms can affect the sleep deprived person’s work life and ruin their personal relationships. Recent research has also taught us that a lack of sleep can cause a myriad of physical health problems. It can lead to obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

The average minimum amount of sleep required to be considered “a good night’s” sleep is 7.5 hours, with a range based on a personal need of 7-9 hours. However, receiving a good night’s sleep isn’t just determined by the length of time one sleeps, but how restful, deep and uninterrupted that sleep is throughout the night.

Wake Up! Snoring is Serious

It is estimated that more than 40 million Americans snore at night. Snoring causes interruptions of sleep throughout the night, leaving the snorer with the same mental and physical conditions as someone who doesn’t get the required number of hours of sleep. Snoring can ironically be called the “silent” killer because unless a bed- or house-mate makes a snorer aware, they often don’t even realize they have a problem. Furthermore, it can lead their non-snoring partner to exhibit the same sleep deprivation symptoms.

Unaware snorers can be perplexed as to the cause of these daytime symptoms, and be totally oblivious to the impending physical toll a lack of sleep will take on their body. Unfortunately, even when a person knows they snore, they often go untreated because they are embarrassed and hide it, or they don’t know it is a serious problem so they ignore it.

Unlike sleep disorders, snoring is a physical condition. During sleep, the throat relaxes and the tongue falls into the airway in the back of the throat causing a vibration in the soft tissue. This vibration is an interruption to the free flow of air through the nose and throat. There are many reasons why someone may snore, and treatment depends on the cause. The most common cause of snoring, and also the most dangerous, is sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea adds injury to insult

It is estimated that 80-85% of sleep apnea patients go untreated, which is a serious health problem especially in the U.S. today. People who suffer from sleep apnea stop breathing dozens of times during sleep and it is particularly severe and life threatening when there are more than twenty or thirty events per hour. There are three types of sleep apnea, obstructive (OSA), central and mixed, with OSA being the most serious type because it affects blood pressure, the heart and lungs.

Considering an apnea patient is unable to breathe many times throughout the night, their sleep is especially interrupted by episodes of waking up gasping for air. This deprivation of oxygen, combined with an inability to get a good night’s sleep, causes severe sleep deprivation and compounds the regular symptoms of a lack of sleep.

Luckily, just as we have learned more about the consequences of snoring, today there is also a wide variety of surgical and non-surgical treatment available for snoring sufferers. If you suspect that you snore at night, or have been told by a loved one that you do, it is important to speak to your doctor. He or she can recommend you to an Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor or Otolaryngologist who will provide you with the correct diagnosis and start you on the path of treatment for a lifetime of healthy sleep.

David Volpi, MD, PC, FACS is a board-certified otolaryngology surgeon with Ear, Nose and Throat practices on the Upper West Side and Upper East Side and is a staff member of the best teaching hospitals in New York City. He is the author of “Wake Up! You’re Snoring…” For more information, contact the Manhattan Snoring and Sleep Center (866) 835-2361; www.drvolpi.com

SIDEBAR:

Snoring can be caused by:

• deviated nasal septum
• nasal polyps
• swollen turbinate, a small scrolled bone in the nasal passage
• sinusitis
• prolonged bacterial sinus infection
• allergies
• abnormally relaxed muscles
• a large tongue or tonsils
• obesity: excessive weight can narrow the windpipe
• smoking: leads to dryness and irritation of the throat
• alcohol, sedatives or certain sedating antihistamines can lower muscle tone in the upper airways, causing an increase in airway resistance
• sleep position
• sleep apnea