Many people think that snoring is not a bad thing, at most it just affects other people’s sleep. Is this really the case? Medical experts around the world, especially doctors in the United States, have found that snoring is a disease that causes a lot of harm and should not be underestimated as an important independent risk factor for acute sudden cardiac death due to stroke. Harm 1: cause hypertension As we all know, hypertension is the most important factor that causes cardiovascular diseases, according to the study, 20% ~ 30% of primary hypertension patients are caused by sleep apnea, at least 30% of hypertensive patients combined with snoring, 45% ~ 48% of snoring patients have hypertension, snoring is one of the factors that cause hypertension independent of age, weight, diet, genetics and other factors. The mechanism of hypertension caused by snoring is thought to be related to the increase of negative intrathoracic pressure, hypoxemia and hypercapnia and fragmented sleep, because these factors can make the sympathetic-vagal nerve function excited during sleep, small artery contraction and increase of cardiac blood transfusion, causing the increase of pressure in pulmonary circulation and body circulation, resulting in periodic increase of pressure in pulmonary artery and even systemic artery, thus leading to primary hypertension. At the same time, hypoxemia and hypercarbia can increase the release of catecholamines in the adrenal medulla, causing an increase in blood pressure. Harm 2: Causes sleep disorder and snoring is easy to cause insomnia. Snoring causes repeated apnea, resulting in repeated micro awakenings, causing damage to normal sleep structure, increasing light sleep and micro awakenings, and reducing deep sleep, resulting in insufficient rest at night, leading to daytime drowsiness, lack of energy, dizziness, memory, judgment, reaction and attention. Hazard three: causing hyperglycemia and obesity In addition to causing hypertension, snoring can also lead to hyperglycemia and obesity. Snoring can cause hypoxemia and hypercarbia, sympathetic-vagus nerve excitation, vasoconstriction, increased release of catecholamines, and disorders of sugar and fat metabolism, which can cause multi-system organ damage and lead to hypertension, hyperglycemia and obesity. Hazard 4: cause stroke Why does snoring cause stroke? That is because snoring is accompanied by apnea, hypoxemia and hypercapnia, which leads to increased secretion of vasoactive substances, systemic arterial constriction and vascular smooth muscle hyperplasia, narrowing, and increased blood pressure, which directly damages the cerebrovascular lining and causes cerebral atherosclerosis and plaque shedding, resulting in ischemic stroke. The incidence of coronary heart disease increases in snoring patients because of periodic hypoxia at night and neuroendocrine abnormalities, activating catecholamines, endothelin and other pressure-raising substances, which increase blood pressure during sleep and aggravate the damage to target organs and increase the incidence of coronary heart disease. Increase in the degree and duration of snoring, increase in the number and degree of myocardial ischemic attacks Pathogenesis of snoring: The causes of snoring are mostly pharyngeal airway narrowing, pharyngeal neuromuscular dysfunction, obstructive lesions of nose and larynx, endocrine diseases and craniofacial malformations. As the muscle tension of the pharynx decreases during sleep, the relatively small pharyngeal cavity becomes narrower, and the eddy flow is generated when the airflow passes through, resulting in the soft tissues of the pharyngeal wall, such as the soft palate, the uvula, the pharyngeal-palatal arch and the lingual-palatal arch, fluttering and causing snoring.