Snore Stopper for Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome

More than 30% of people in our country have sleep problems. The negative impact of sleep disorders on the quality of life has received increasing attention, but a considerable number of patients are not reasonably diagnosed and treated. Sleep disorders have now become a prominent problem threatening public health in countries around the world. The theme of this year’s World Sleep Day is “A Good Night’s Sleep, A Healthy Life”, which aims to raise the public’s awareness of the increasing number of sleep problems, to improve the public’s sleep health, and to reduce the incidence of mental and psychological disorders. Zhao Ying, Department of Stomatology, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, China Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAHS) is a sleep-related respiratory disorder with a high incidence in the population, characterized by recurrent apnea and irregular snoring during sleep.The incidence of OSAHS in China was reported to be 3.4% in 2004. Among people of different ages, the incidence of OSAHS is highest among middle-aged and elderly men, up to 40%; and the incidence of obese people is even higher, 42-48% among men and 8-38% among women. Sleep disorders and hypoxia due to frequent apnea at night often make OSAHS patients feel sleepy, with a series of hypoxic symptoms such as morning headache, daytime fatigue and drowsiness, and difficulty in concentrating; prolonged untreated OSAHS may lead to memory loss, anxiety and depression, and cognitive dysfunction, which affects the quality of daily life, and increases the incidence of traffic accidents and occupational accidents; and snoring affects the partner’s sleep, which may lead to the loss of memory and depression, and cause the death of the partner. Family crises due to snoring interfering with partner’s sleep are also increasing. Meanwhile, hypoxia and/or carbon dioxide retention due to recurrent apnea during sleep is considered to be one of the risk factors for hypertension, angina pectoris, cerebrovascular embolism, and sudden nocturnal death. Currently, effective clinical treatments for OSAHS include Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Ventilation (CPAP), surgery, and oral appliances (commonly known as anti-snoring devices). The snoring appliance was introduced into the domestic clinic in the mid-1990s, opening up a new way for the treatment of OSAHS in adults. It has the outstanding advantages of being non-traumatic and reversible, comfortable and compliant, easy to carry, and relatively inexpensive, etc. It has been favored by OSAHS patients and doctors, and its clinical application has become more and more extensive in the past ten years. Snore Stopper is an intraoral device similar to denture, which can temporarily change the position of the mandible and tongue during night sleep to maintain the upper airway open, thus avoiding apnea caused by collapse of the upper airway, and at the same time effectively reducing snoring. Snore Stopper is not only suitable for treating simple snoring, Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome and mild to moderate OSAHS, but also can alleviate hypoxia symptoms of moderate to severe OSAHS that refuses surgical treatment and cannot tolerate CPAP treatment to varying degrees. The snore blocker can also help pregnant OSAHS patients to go through the pregnancy period smoothly and reduce the impact of maternal hypoxia on fetal development. Through years of clinical treatment of OSAHS patients, we found that the snore blocker can improve the hypoxia symptoms of most patients, daytime fatigue and drowsiness significantly improved, learning and work efficiency significantly improved, and can improve the quality of sleep and quality of life of patients and their partners. Early use of snoring devices for OSAHS can prevent or delay the occurrence of complications, and can also play a role in controlling complications for patients with hypertension, tachycardia, diabetes and other complications. On the occasion of “World Sleep Day”, we aim to draw attention to the importance of sleep and sleep quality. It is our responsibility to return a fresh and healthy sleep to the public. To pay attention to the quality of sleep is to pay attention to the quality of life, and to pay attention to sleep is to pay attention to health.