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It ruins many a sleep and, no doubt, many a relationship. Trying to sleep next to a snoring partner is just that: an effort. Once the engine starts, there are few countermeasures other than shoving, earplugs, and the patience of a saint.
That’s the thing about snoring: Many of us think of it as little more than an embarrassment or an annoyance and put it up with it. But a growing body of research suggests we’re trivializing an important and common health problem.
Snoring is not only associated with disrupted sleep, it can also be a warning sign of impending problems and appears to have some potentially serious effects on the snorer’s cardiovascular system. While treatments vary, evidence is scarce on which ones work. But as sleep researchers become more aware of the hidden dangers of snoring, there’s hope that this nightmare may soon be over.
Snoring is common, but it’s difficult to know exactly how common it is. Many snorers don’t even know they snore. “If you ask someone ‘Do you snore?’ they’ll say ‘I don’t know, I’m sleeping,'” Danny EckertDirector of sleep health at the Flinders Institute of Health and Medical Research in Adelaide, Australia. “Their bed partner might tell them, but many people don’t have a bed partner.” However, in Eckert’s experience, this is common. …
