Is Snoring Serious?

Medically
Yes. Heavy snorers tend to develop high blood pressure at a younger age than non–snorers. Obstructive sleep apnea is an exaggerated form of snoring. Loud snoring is interrupted by frequent episodes of totally obstructed breathing. These people may spend up to half their sleep time with blood oxygen levels below normal. During these obstructive episodes, the heart must pump harder. This can cause irregular heart beats, and eventually high blood pressure.

Sleep apnea patients may spend little of their night–time hours in deep sleep stages. They awaken not refreshed and are sleepy much of the day. They may fall asleep while driving or while on the job.
Socially
Yes. It disrupts family life. Spouses often have sleep deprivation, depression, and mood alteration. Marital discord is a common result.

Have you experienced excessive daytime sleepiness?	Yes	No
Have you experienced any of the following: Morning headaches? Restless sleep patterns? Excessive snoring?	Yes	No
His your snoring forced your spouse to sleep in another room?	Yes	No
Have there been witnessed episodes where you stop breathing for 10 seconds or more?	Yes	No
Have you ever fallen asleep driving to or from work?	Yes	No
Have you ever fallen asleep inappropriately during social activities?	Yes	No
Have you ever had trauma to the nose, face or throat?	Yes	No
If so, please describe have you ever had a sleep study? If yes: Where? When?	Yes	No

If you answer is “Yes” to any of the following questions…evaluation is recommended.

Are there any treatments or cures for snoring? My husband snores however he lies in bed.

Snoring is a common and very distressing problem, often resulting in partners sleeping apart because one or the other cannot get to sleep through the noise! A new treatment has been approved which uses radio waves to shrink tissue in the air passages of the nose and throat which are the cause of snoring. The treatment is called somnoplasty and involves piercing the tongue or soft palate with a needle connected to a radio frequency generator. The tissue is then heated up and shrunk in a process which takes about half an hour.

However, there are other things to try before such intervention. There are a number of lifestyle changes which can help with habitual snoring. These include losing weight, exercising, stopping smoking, and refraining from alcohol at night. There are also special “Snoring pillows” and nose strips which are available at most pharmacies. Dentists can make devices which hold the tongue in place and leave the air passages clear.

Try lifestyle changes and pillows before resorting to an ENT specialist. Good luck!

I have a son aged three and a half and a daughter aged nineteen months. Every two weeks, without fail, one of them develops a constant runny nose, and passes it on to the other. My daughter generally just has a runny nose, while my son develops a bad cough each time. I have tried every type of medicines from antibiotics to homeopathic remedies, to no avail. Is there a medication on the market which will help with this?

This pattern of runny noses, coughing, and often, early evening fevers, every two weeks or so, is a perfect illustration of the regular colds which young children get as they are growing up. The common cold is caused by a variety of viruses, none of them amenable to treatment by any means. Children react differently to the viruses, some having simply a runny nose, while others are to the inflammation of the airways that the virus can cause, which results in a cough. This pattern is perfectly normal in any child where they are constantly exposed to the myriad of viruses in the environment.

Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment. These infections all resolve on their own, rapidly being replaced by new ones as you have noticed! Having said that, there are simple measures you can take to make the child more comfortable. Make sure they are drinking plenty of fluids so that the secretions are less sticky. Paracetamol will help settle them at night, as will something like Vicks rubbed onto the chest. If your son develops a cough with each cold, which is worse at night and when he is running around and playing, then it is possible that he has a tendency to asthma. Check this out with your GP.