A glass of milk before bedtime is one of the “magic tricks” that many people use to ensure a good night’s sleep. However, from a clinical point of view, this is not a good method, especially for the elderly. Not long ago, an old man came to see me and said he had been having trouble sleeping for the past 5 years, and every night before going to bed, he had to have two things DD bedside water cup and bedside urine bucket to resist the torture of dry mouth, urine and dreams. Not only that, the night snoring like thunder, but also affected the quality of sleep of his partner, resulting in them having to sleep in separate beds. Later, he heard that drinking a glass of milk before bed was good for sleep, so he kept a bag of milk at home and had a glass every night before bed. Since then, not only the sleep problem is not solved, but also added a new problem: every night can not lie flat to sleep, or not much time to be choking and coughing to wake up, wake up after sitting for a while to sleep again, lie down to sleep for a while and then be coughing to wake up, week after week, suffering. Wu Huili, Department of Otolaryngology, Coal General Hospital After conducting various professional examinations on this old man, I confirmed that he was suffering from “obstructive sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome”, “reflux laryngitis” and “deviated nasal septum “Defects. “Obstructive sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome” sounds complicated, but simply put, it is a complete or partial collapse of the respiratory airway, resulting in a person not being able to breathe freely during sleep, and always feeling unable to breathe. Another external manifestation of the disease is snoring. This disease is more common in the elderly, because as people age, the pharyngeal muscles become relaxed, plus the long-term vibration of airflow during breathing can lead to thickening of the pharyngeal mucosa and narrowing of the pharyngeal cavity, which very easily triggers poor breathing. When breathing problems occur, people will naturally try to catch their breath out of their own defense function. However, this effort is likely to cause an increase in negative pressure in the chest cavity. The esophagus is in the chest cavity, the pressure of the chest cavity will also act on the esophagus, resulting in like pulling the floor drain, the food stored in the stomach to the pharynx; when the apnea process stops, people often take a deep breath, the moment of inhalation, because the reflux of food will be inhaled into the lungs, and thus cause choking and coughing, the lighter is just a few coughs wake up, the heavier can choke to death. The elderly themselves have loose muscles, and the lower esophageal sphincter is relatively loose, making it easier to cause esophageal reflux. Drinking milk before going to sleep provides sufficient food for reflux symptoms and therefore increases the chances of waking up with a cough. Here, the elderly are reminded that: 1, people who snore in bed should go to the hospital for sleep monitoring to confirm the diagnosis of sleep breathing disorder; 2, dinner should be light, low protein, less stimulating and easy to digest food to reduce gastric acid secretion; 3, never drink milk before bedtime, and drinks that can cause excitement such as strong tea, coffee or wine should not be touched. If possible, try not to drink these things 3 hours before bedtime. 4, before bedtime hot water soak feet, the whole body slightly sweaty, can help to sleep easily.