Snoring (i.e. snoring) is due to muscle relaxation and/or backward tongue drop after sleeping on the basis of the original upper airway stenosis, which aggravates the stenosis and causes the vibration of the palate and soft tissues of the pharynx when the respiratory airflow passes through the narrow upper airway and produces a loud sound. In life, people often mistakenly think that snoring is the performance of deep and sound sleep, but the fact is that snoring of snorers often stops suddenly, and the snoring starts again after a few seconds to tens of seconds, which is sleep apnea. Apnea refers to the complete stop of airflow from the mouth and nose for more than 10 seconds during sleep. Sleep apnea syndrome refers to those who have more than 30 repeated episodes of apnea with drowsiness and other manifestations in the process of sleep every night. I. What are the dangers of snoring and sleep apnea? A manager of a company always has headache, dizziness and drowsiness during the day. When I looked at the patient’s appearance, he was in his 40s and obese, so I asked him, “Do you snore in your sleep? He said he didn’t know, and one of his secretaries added that the manager snored and had breathing pauses, as if he was holding it in. I asked the manager if he drove, and he said he used to drive, but now he is afraid to drive, because once he nodded off and hit someone. This manager was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea syndrome after examination. Severe snoring and apnea cause long-term hypoxemia, which leads to hypertension, coronary heart disease, arrhythmia, cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, diabetes and so on, and even sudden death in sleep. Second, what are the causes of snoring? Normal people basically rely on the nose to breathe when they sleep, through the throat all the way through, but for nasal polyps, nasal turbinate hypertrophy, chronic rhinitis, tonsil hypertrophy, the airflow pathway is narrower than normal people, poor breathing causes snoring. Obese people have fat accumulation in the neck and a large amount of fat attached to the throat, and the tongue body is obese, which makes the narrowing aggravate causing snoring. Congenital problems, such as short chin and short thick neck, these people have relaxed muscles during sleep, collapsed airway and backward tongue heel, in addition to genetic and familial snoring. Third, how to diagnose snoring and sleep apnea? Polysomnography is needed. Polysomnography includes EEG, oral and nasal airflow, snoring, chest and abdominal respiratory movement, blood oxygen saturation, ECG, through which the quality of sleep, the frequency of snoring, the presence of apnea or hypoventilation, the presence of hypoxia, the number of hypoxia and the severity can be determined. The diagnosis can be made. 4. How to treat snoring and sleep apnea? There are mainly ventilator ventilation treatment and surgical treatment. Continuous positive pressure air delivery by ventilator prevents airway collapse, keeps airway open, eliminates snoring and sleep apnea, corrects sleep hypoxia, and improves a series of complications caused by apnea. The advantages of the treatment are that it is non-invasive, portable, simple and easy to use, and has an immediate effect. The disadvantage is that it is more expensive and needs to be worn for a long time. Surgical treatment is to remove the obstructed part to achieve the purpose of expanding the airway, the advantage is to meet the desire of some patients “one-time cure”, the disadvantage is that there is a certain amount of surgical trauma, individual patients relapse. The effect of drug treatment is not certain, and treatment with acetazolamide, methacholine, etc. can be tried. If there is rhinitis, nasal obstruction, etc., can be used to shrink the blood vessels of the drug nasal spray. It must be applied under the guidance of doctors. V. How to prevent snoring and sleep apnea? Snoring and sleep apnea are most common in obese people, so you should actively participate in exercise to reduce weight; develop the habit of sleeping on the side to reduce the back of the tongue, and sew tennis balls on the back of pajamas. In addition, we should quit smoking and limit alcohol, such as drinking a lot of alcohol before going to bed will lead to muscle paralysis and relaxation of the throat part, increased airway collapse obstruction, increased snoring and increased apnea.