Snoring Minor Annoyance Or Life-Threatening Symptom?

By Daniel R. Melnick, DDS

Laurel Lake Cosmetic Dentistry

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Snoring Minor Annoyance Or Life-Threatening Symptom?

Snoring can be an annoyance that disturbs one's spouse or significant other. Snoring may also be a symptom of a life-threatening condition called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). OSA has been found to affect 24% of men and 9% of women. However, it is undiagnosed in 80-90% of the time.

People who have OSA have collapsed airways that result in the lack of rhythmic breathing during sleep times. As a result people with OSA may stop breathing for 10 seconds or more (apnea), may have reduced oxygen flow of 30% or more (hypopnea), may gasp and choke several times an hour.

The more times these interruptions in breathing occur, the more severe the condition. Because of interruptions in rhythmic breathing, the person's body doesn't get adequate rest and rejuvenation and in fact find themselves placing their body at medical strain and risk.

People who suffer with unmanaged OSA are at higher risk of the following conditions diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, unexplained weight gain and obesity, lower sex drive, nocturne (night time urination), recurrent headaches, teeth grinding, TMJ dysfunction, loud snoring, mood changes including depression and anxiety, restless sleep, insomnia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and memory loss.

On average people with unmanaged OSA have shorter lifespans of 10 less years.

Treatment of OSA is traditionally done using CPAP. CPAP is a machine that connects to a person with a mask that increases air pressure in one's throat to overcome the collapsed blockage to allow airflow when breathing. It is the gold standard for those with severe OSA.

Other options include a variety of surgical procedures. The downside with surgery is that results are often unpredictable. A third and effective treatment is for an oral appliance called a mandibular advancement splint (MAS) which is fabricated by a trained sleep dentist. These work best for mild to moderate OSA patients or for severe OSA patients who are unable to use the CPAP machine. The MAS is a two piece oral appliance that sits atop the patient's teeth and repositions the lower jaw (mandible) in a more forward position relative to the upper jaw and in doing so opens up the airway for improved airflow.

So if you find you or your loved ones suffering with chronic tiredness, hypertension, high cholesterol, insomnia, waking up several times at night to go to the bathroom, snoring, and/or unwanted, unexplained weight gain talk to your primary care physician about a referral to a sleep doctor for a sleep test. The life you save may be your own.