HealthHub - Stop Snoring The Easy Way: And The Reasons You Need To

A Health Hub Publishing book

First published in Great Britain by Health Hub Books 2016

This edition published by Health Hub Books 2016-09-28

Copyright Health Hub London

The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Cover and Design by SpiffingCovers Ltd.

To Veronica, Elizabeth, Julia, Holly, Ben, Max, Arthur, Charlotte, Olivia, Magnus and Roland

CONTENTS

Introduction

Much like drinking, smoking and junk food, snoring is a voluntary habit. You may not have consciously chosen to start but you can certainly make the choice to stop. Unlike the host of other voluntary habits and vices, research into the real effects of snoring on general wellbeing is virtually non-existent or not presented in a way that instigates discussion. Tales of friends and family shaking the rafters at night is a common narrative, and one that should prompt a deeper investigation into the associated health risks. Yet there seems to be little motivation to stop snoring other than social factors. The conversations that buck this trend are flooded with overly-complicated medical terminology, cause and effect jargon completely inaccessible to the general community of sufferers.

The reality is that as a population we are blissfully unaware of the real dangers of snoring and the consuming effects it has on every aspect of ones life. This book presents a study into snoring, a targeted summary of the threats to ones wellbeing and a simple daily exercise routine to stop snoring all together.

We follow a model which argues a person is only motivated to stop a voluntary habit if they:

Have a useable understanding of their condition

Understand how this effects them and their life

Have easy to follow action points which yield great results quickly

In chapters 1-3 we discuss the anatomical evolutions that set the stage for the snoring epidemic and investigate the differing levels of its clinical severity. We also introduce a key theme of the book: that snoring prevents our natural phases of sleep and the essential sleep cycles.

Chapters 4-7 answer the question how does this affect me? based on an understanding of which factors are most important to me? We analyse the real effects of snoring on your professional success, relationships, sex life, health, fitness and finally on your vanity goals.

In Chapter 8 we outline an easy to implement 5-minute routine to life-hack yourself back into deep, restful sleep at night, and into a healthy, energetic and happy life every day.

Chapter 1

The Real Dangers of Snoring

The answer to the question what is the problem with snoring? will almost always relate, at least partially, to social stigma. In every group or family there is at least one member who is infamous for being a snorer. That person is usually male, and typically fathers, husbands and boyfriends whose nightly routines are the topic of lifelong ridicule. Many men find this reputation embarrassing and can become defensive about the subject, finding it uncomfortable to discuss in public what is considered to be a particularly unattractive habit.

A common assumption is that snoring is the pastime of men, and whilst they account for the majority of snorers worldwide, a whopping 20% of adult women are also severe snorers. The stigma attached is in general far worse for women. Snoring can therefore be an incredibly sensitive topic and in many social situations is out of bounds when it comes to poking fun.

It is easy to understand why the problem of snoring is regarded as unattractive and disruptive when one considers the loudness of a snore that the average adult produces.

. Even at the lower end of the scale, the average volume can be compared to the loudness of a household vacuum cleaner. The more extreme cases approach the volume you would expect from a chainsaw or even a motorbike.

Little wonder then that humiliation and shame are the most common theme in answering what is wrong with snoring? Equally a number of books on snoring cite this as the sole reason for taking action, with numerous references to snoring causing the breakdown of marriages and preventing relationships from starting altogether. Again this is understandable but it ignores a greater concern. Part of the purpose of this book is to shed light on the much under- publicised and far more alarming danger that 60% of the population face as they drift off to sleep.

Even mild snoring presents the real dangers of a prolonged nocturnal breathing disorder which has significant effects on many aspects of the healthy body and mind. This is well understood by the medical community, but advice and treatment tend to focus on purely medical aspects. Whilst surgery and ventilation aids have a real place in the treatment of snoring, they are an extreme step, especially when simple but effective measures have often not been tried.

This book aims to simplify the treatment of a common and often debilitating medical problem. We follow a simple model:

Create awareness

Embed how this applies to me

Give the steps needed to act and help resolve the problem

: There have been a number of cases in which decibel readings have topped 115 decibels, about the same volume as a jet fighter plane.

Chapter 2

What is Snoring?

Snoring, by its medical definition, is called stertor. This means noisy breathing. It happens whilst we are asleep because thats when the airway collapses and becomes partially blocked. The noise of snoring is produced from a reduction in muscle tone causing structures in the throat to start to flap - rather like a sail or flag flapping when the wind reaches a certain speed. Its all to do with turbulent air flow and resonance. There are three parts of our throat which tend to flap because they are not firmly fixed to anything. They are the soft palate, the uvula and the epiglottis. As these structures flap about under the correct conditions of high flow, turbulent breathing, they trap air against the back wall of the throat for a split second, causing a very high pressure build up and subsequent sound wave, just like clapping your hands together. You might ask why this doesnt happen when you have high flow breathing from exercise - thats because muscle tone holds everything in place, including the soft palate, uvula and epiglottis.

Normal breathing while we are awake also doesnt tend to cause snoring, as it is relatively low energy, and our breathing tube is held open widely by the muscles of the throat. Thats what we mean by muscle tone. When we tense our arm or stomach muscles and they become hard and firm, thats an example of high muscle tone. It is obviously much harder to make a hard muscle flap than a soft, low tone one.

When the airway collapses due to low muscle tone, oxygen levels drop a little, which is registered in the brain. This causes a signal to go to the lungs so that more effort is put into breathing and enough air is shifted to restore normal oxygenation. The lungs duly comply, increasing their force, causing an increase in the speed of flow so that enough air is moved in and out. Think of a small but fast flowing river, with the same net flow as a wide and slow-moving one.