IF your wife has handed you a tape with high decibel snoring on it, chances are it's you she's taped. By the time things get this far you could be looking at sleeping in separate rooms or being dragged to the divorce courts.
Better by far to be dragged by the scruff of the neck to your GP where your wife's sanity, your relationship and blissful zees for all can be resumed.
It's official (women didn't need to wait for verification): men snore more than women. Mind you, women do snore too - less so premenopausally, more postmenopausally - but virtually always a lot less than men. Pregnant women can also snore more than they usually would.
Men older than 40 tend to snore more while women's sleep tends to be less continuous from their late 40s. Although one thing could lead to the other, don't take all the rap. Chances are she'd be sleeping less well than she used to anyway.
Dr Catherine Crowe, a specialist in sleep disorders at the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin, treats five times as many male snorers as female snorers. Most people who are referred to her come because of disturbance in vibration of the tissues causes the noise and much grief to the hearer.
Some snoring is associated with sleep apnea syndrome. In men with their partner's sleep. Despite many sophisticated ways of dealing with the condition, she is at pains to point out that often all that's wrong is the man is overweight.
Snoring, whether heroic or soft, is caused by the partial or total obstruction of the upper airway. Consequent this condition, complete obstruction of their airway occurs. The "plug" can be at the top of the nose, the pallet or the base of the tongue. It can even occur at several levels. Men suffering from the condition can have as many as 400 apneas per night. Technically, they wake up each time although their waking is beneath the level of consciousness. This waking can be detected on an EEG, a machine which examines the structure of sleep by electrodes stuck to the head of a sleeper. Although the patient doesn't come to consciousness, he doesn't sleep as soundly as he should and sleep remains superficial.
From a men's health point of view, the only snoring that needs professional attention is irregular snoring where, according to Dr Crowe, "the noise is suggestive of an irregular breathing pattern. At the end of the pause there's gasping and snorting." This kind of snoring suggests sleep apnea syndrome. It can also manifest itself a daytime sleepiness. The most likely person to tell you if you've irregular breathing while snoring is the very person you're driving demented.
As is well known, sleeping on one's back can raise the decibel level beyond the wits of the most forebearing of partners. To prevent the loss of a mate, Dr Crowe sometimes suggests that snorers wear a T-shirt backwards with a golf or tennis ball in the pocket. I kid you not. This prevents men rolling over on to their backs. She also explains that muscle tone is less during sleep. Muscles in the pharynx, the tube from the nose to the larynx (the Adam's apple), relax and can more easily cause an obstruction in the upper airway.
ACCIDENTS and old sporting injuries can cause snoring. Knocks to the snout, even many years before, can cause a deviated nasal septum (the thing in the middle of the nose dividing it into left and right), obstructing a nostril. Other gremlins such as a bulky soft palate or a big tongue that falls back can also be to blame, or large tonsils (which are the commonest cause of snoring in children). Sometimes it is caused by a thicker than usual lining of the nose. Temporary bouts of snoring can be caused by colds or flu or obstruction due to seasonal allergies.
Losing weight, drinking less alcohol and drinking (and finishing) earlier (say at 10 p.m. rather than 11.30 p.m.) can reduce the likelihood of honking Dr Crowe also believe that breathe-easy nasal strips can help.
She knows of "heroic snoring" where you can be heard downstairs or out in the garden. This level of snoring can be embarrassing, especially if it happens on public transport.
Men with sleep apnea syndrome are more likely to have car crashes because they can fall asleep at the wheel. In the US it has been found that men with sleep apnea run five times the risk of having a road traffic accident. They are also more likely to have cardiovascular disease (be at higher risk of a stroke); have ischemic heart disease (coronary heart disease); or hypertension (high blood pressure). But remember it is sleep apnea rather than snoring which raises these risks.
Snorers and sleep apnea patients are also more likely to have thick necks. Fat is deposited and settles on the walls of the upper airways reducing their size and making one more liable to snore.
The first port of call is to visit your GP. He or she will decide whether to refer you to an ENT (ear, nose, throat) surgeon with an interest in snoring. Patients can be referred, either by their GP or by an ENT surgeon, to a sleep laboratory if more than simple snoring is suspected.
ENT surgeons can correct the underlying abnormality. This can include laser assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP). While this doesn't affect the taste buds, Dr Crowe says that this is "very painful" absolutely. There's no saying that it isn't." It is only done if the snoring is causing severe disruption to, sleep, the patient's or his partner s. LAUP is not carried out on patients with sleep apnea. These are treated with nasal CPAP, continuous positive airway pressure. This is a machine that blows air through a nose mask into the upper airway at a designated pressure for each patient. It acts as a pneumatic splint with the column of air keeping the airway open. It's worn every night, all night. I'm told it's much sexier than snoring. They can be purchased (for about £1,000) or rented. Some health boards contribute to the cost of CPAP.
Jaw advancement surgery is also an option for patients whose tongue rolls back but is not available in Ireland. Dental appliances can help men with a posterially placed jaw.
Humble ear plugs for the besieged partner are not to be despised as a first effort towards blissful sleep. As for the snorer, go lose some weight.