Of all the breathing disorders, sleep related breathing disorders are the most serious. These are categorized by frequent interruptions or complete stoppage of breathing of over 10 seconds that breaks the continuous flow of oxygen to the body, when asleep.
The most common breathing disorders are sleep apnea and snoring. As most of the symptoms are only surface when the person is sleeping, they go unnoticed and untreated, leading to serious health complications in the long run.
Although sleeping is a complex state controlled by the neurological portion of the brain, the main function is to provide rest and rejuvenation of energy and the body cells. Habitual snoring interrupts normal life with fragmented and restless sleep, drowsiness during day, low alertness, short memory span and other serious diseases such as sleep apnea.
Usually, snoring occurs in all stages of sleep but mostly, during the Rapid Eye Movement or REM sleep stage. REM stage is the deep sleep time when the brain sends instructions for muscle relaxation. However, in normal healthy individuals, the process of respiration is under neuromuscular automatic control but for people suffering from breathing disorders such as snoring and sleep apnea, relaxation of the throat muscles in REM stage may lead to low oxygen intake, erratic breathing patterns and heavy snoring.
Apart from personal discomfort and the inconvenience to the bed partner, regular snoring leads to higher chances of cardiovascular diseases, sexual dysfunction, hypertension, stress, poor concentration and in cases of severe sleep apnea, even death.
