Are you among the women who snore?
We’ve all heard it, but we think of snoring as being a “man thing.” It’s not a topic that women will admit to, most likely because they don’t even know they’re doing it.
The general statistic from studies suggest that 45% of men snore and 30% of women.
One characteristic unique to women snoring is the onset of menopause. This appears to be due to two factors. One is the drop in estrogen that has been acting as a respiratory stimulant keeping the muscles from relaxing and second, the excess weight gain where deposits of fat act to constrict the air passages during sleep.
Other factors causing women to snore include —
- sleeping posture
- obesity
- pregnancy
- nasal congestions and infection
- lung damage due to smoking
- excessive alcohol consumption
- family genetics
- abnormalities: palate, uvula, nasal cavities
While snoring is this strange sounding noise pattern, it’s actually an intake of air while asleep turning into a turbulent force causing the nose and throat tissues to vibrate. The sound itself may be disturbing and not very sleep conducive if your partner is the one snoring, or you are the one keeping your partner awake.
Snoring is actually a serious problem and needs to be evaluated. It may be indicative of not getting a good night’s sleep, a source of constant headaches, contributing to daytime fatigue and nodding off or the more serious condition of sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a condition whereby there is a delay in message circuit from the brain to the respiratory system to consistently breathe. There is an actual complete stop in airflow during this delay cycle. This leads to a drop in oxygen level in the blood and oxygen needed by the brain itself.
It also acts as a complete disrupter to deep and restorative sleep. The sleep cycles during the night are interrupted by the brain signal finally getting through to initiate breathing. Once the breathe signal is received it causes the body to awake enough to breathe but not to wake-up out of sleep unless there has been a need to gulp for air. These number of these waking episodes are part of the measurement determining the severity of sleep apnea.
This means that your brain besides its other nocturnal functions has to focus on making sure your breathe by sacrificing the quality of your sleep.
If you find yourself waking up and not feeling like you are getting a good night’s sleep and looking for something to keep you alert and energized throughout the day, you might just be a nighttime snorer and don’t know it. You might want to find out before some family member or friends posts you to YouTube. See below.
Sources:
By Smita Pandit http://www.buzzle.com/articles/causes-of-snoring-in-women.html