About 1/3 of a person’s life is spent in sleep, and the quality of sleep is directly related to the quality of one’s life. A good sleep can make people’s brain and body get sufficient rest, so that we have a clear mind and high energy during the day; an insomnia can make our mind dull and listless during the day. This shows the importance of a good night’s sleep. But many factors can affect the quality of our sleep, of which snoring is one of the most common factors affecting. When it comes to snoring, it is a common occurrence in our lives, what adverse effects does it have on the body? Is there a way to treat it? Why do people snore?
During sleep, due to muscle relaxation, the pharyngeal cavity is narrowed, and the airflow through the narrow airway causes soft tissue tremor, resulting in snoring. For some snorers, their snoring only occurs when they sleep on their backs or when they are overworked, and it does not have any special adverse effect on them, so it is called “benign snoring” and does not require medical consultation. However, some people snore differently from others, not only do they snore loudly, but also they do not breathe when they are snoring, and they snore again only after a loud sound after a few seconds or tens of seconds, and they hold their breath again after a few snores, so their family members are always worried that they are in danger and push them awake when they see that they are holding their breath too much. The patient is also drowsy during the day and always wants to sleep. This kind of snoring is called “malignant snoring”, which must be taken seriously and needs to be seen by a hospital in time.
What are the adverse effects of snoring on human body?
When apnea or hypoventilation occurs, it can lead to a decrease in oxygen saturation and an increase in carbon dioxide content in the blood, and the decrease in oxygen saturation can cause pathophysiological changes such as an increase in blood viscosity, a slowdown in blood flow, an increase in blood pressure, and an abnormal heart rate.
Repeated respiratory arrest and decreased oxygen saturation can cause dozens or even hundreds of micro awakenings overnight (which patients are often unaware of), so patients have disturbed sleep structure and decreased sleep efficiency, resulting in daytime drowsiness, memory loss, headache, dizziness, and listlessness.
Is pediatric snoring harmful?
Pediatric snoring is more harmful than adults. Because growth hormone is mainly secreted in deep sleep at night, snoring at night will directly lead to the decline of growth hormone secretion. Therefore, children who suffer from snoring will generally have short stature and intellectual development disorders. In addition, as children’s brain is in the process of continuous development, it is very sensitive to the lack of oxygen, so children with snoring will show poor mental performance, sleepiness, inactivity, memory loss, inattentiveness, decreased academic performance or emotional irritability, irritability and aggressiveness during the day due to the lack of oxygen supply to the brain, and snoring can also affect children’s bone development such as adenoid face and funnel chest.
What are the clinical manifestations of sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome?
1. Daytime drowsiness, weakness, fatigue, unable to relieve fatigue after sleep, and frequent napping.
2.Headache or dizziness in the morning, and dry mouth and bitterness.
3.Lack of concentration during the day, memory loss, and short temper.
4.Increased nighttime urination, acid reflux, heartburn.
5. Symptoms such as sexual dysfunction.
What are the common complications caused by sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome?
1. Hypertension. Many hypertensive patients have been unsatisfactory with oral antihypertensive drugs alone, which may be related to the neglect of the treatment of the disease.
2, heart disease, such as arrhythmia, coronary heart disease, etc. Studies have shown that patients with sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome have 1.4 times more coronary heart disease than patients with non-sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome.
3, cerebrovascular lesions, such as cerebral thrombosis. Canadian scholars have reported that sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome significantly increases the chance of stroke and is an independent risk factor for stroke.
4, endocrine diseases, such as diabetes mellitus. Among them, type II diabetes and sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome have a high correlation.
5.Children patients can’t concentrate, their academic performance decreases and their development is delayed.
How to treat “malignant snoring”?
The ENT Sleep Clinic adheres to the treatment policy of “tailor-made treatment and tailor-made treatment” and designs a suitable individual treatment plan for each snoring patient. The initial physical examination of patients with “malignant snoring” is conducted by ENT doctors to determine whether there is obesity, pharyngeal stenosis, jaw and facial abnormalities, etc. Next, the diagnosis is clarified: the patient must undergo overnight sleep apnea monitoring in order to clarify the diagnosis of the disease. Sleep apnea monitoring is the gold standard for diagnosing sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome.
There are two types of sleep respiratory monitoring: in-hospital sleep monitoring: the patient performs a full night of sleep respiratory testing at a respiratory sleep testing center, which includes sleep, breathing, oxygen saturation, snoring and other indicators. Home sleep testing: Patients take the sleep apnea monitor home and perform breathing monitoring at home for the whole night, and then send the monitor back to the sleep center the next day for data download and analysis. The test includes breathing, blood oxygen saturation, snoring and other indicators.