Anti Snoring Remedies

The Link between Snoring and Diabetes

June 4, 2018 Snoring-Aid.com Staff Anti Snoring Remedies

Snoring And Diabetes

People who have diabetes often have sleeping issues, and snoring is one of the most common problems in such people. Snoring actually happens when the air passage is partially blocked during sleep, and the loud noise of snoring is caused when the uvula and soft palate vibrates in the throat while the air moves in and out.

Snorers usually have an irregular sleeping schedule and may tend to wake up very frequently while sleeping. Due to the sleep deprivation, the insulin levels are affected very badly, which means that regular snorers are at a higher risk of being diabetic when compared to those who do not snore.

The Change in Hormone Levels

Our hormone levels are greatly affected by our sleeping habits. When we get tired, our body produces high levels of ghrelin, the hormone that causes hunger. Furthermore, leptin, the hormone that signals the brain that you are full, will become low with sleep deprivation issues.

All this means that snorers are likely to overeat and will have more risk of obesity, which in turn, leads to insulin resistance. Some studies even say that people who face sleeping troubles have higher blood glucose levels.

Researches also say that sleep apnea disorder is very closely linked to blood sugar issues, insulin resistance, and related conditions. Sleep apnea is a condition where you may stop breathing for a few seconds and probably end up waking to gasp in a lot of air to sleep again.

Some people may even recurrent apnea episodes throughout the night. This leads to a lack of oxygen in the body, and as a result, a stress hormone (Cortisol) is released in the body. The increase in Cortisol eventually leads to insulin resistance and affects the blood sugar levels in the body.

Treatment

Lifestyle changes can reduce your snoring levels to a great extent. For starters, do not consume any alcohol before going to sleep; you also need to make your bedroom allergen-free and quit smoking. Apart from that, you can try to sleep on your side, so that it can reduces the pressure on your neck and lets you breathe freely.

You can also use over-the-counter snoring solutions to lessen snoring issues, and get a peaceful night’s sleep. Still, it is better to consult with a doctor as soon as you notice any snoring symptoms or have trouble sleeping. Getting proper medical attention would help to get your blood glucose levels and insulin levels back to normal.

Lesser-Known Facts about Sleep Apnea

May 4, 2018 Snoring-Aid.com Staff Anti Snoring Remedies

Facts About Sleep Apnea

If you are unable to get a good night’s sleep, then you will probably wake up feeling a bit tired and irritated. In addition to some people may also find it very difficult to concentrate on their academics or work if they are not able to enjoy a peaceful sleep. However, several people often fail to realize the fact that sleep apnea or other sleep-related disorders might be the reason why they are finding it hard to sleep.

It might come as a surprise to many when they hear the fact that the sleeping disorder, sleep apnea is one of the major culprits behind the sleep issues of several people. In fact, a recent study conducted by experts in the field of medical science revealed that one out of five adults in the country suffers from breathing disorders due to sleep apnea.

If you are waking up in the middle of your sleep due to breathing issues or if your sleep is being disrupted at regular intervals, then you should consider seeking medical assistance as fast as possible. If you are a snorer, then the health care provider will ask you to use anti snoring devices, which might help you to stop snoring.

Sleep apnea is actually a problematic and distressing chronic health problem, which can bring serious health issues if left untreated. This common sleep disorder was actually named after a Greek word that meant “want of breath” in English.

Recent studies conducted by experts revealed that sleep apnea is very common in people who are in the age range of 50 to 60 years. In addition to that, the studies pointed out that two percent of children and six percents of adults are also experiencing sleep apnea related problems. It is significant to note that sleep apnea and other sleeping disorders are more common in men when compared to women.

If you are obese, then you are at a higher risk of falling prey to this sleep disorder. Likewise, people with larger neck size, sinus problems, and allergies may also develop sleep apnea at some point in your life. The intake of alcohol, smoking, and taking sedatives will also relax your muscles and obstruct your airway, which in turn lead to sleep apnea. The good news is that avoiding alcohol consumption and quitting smoking might help you to stay away from sleep apnea and other sleep disorders.

How OSA Can Indirectly Cause Stroke

March 20, 2018 Snoring-Aid.com Staff Anti Snoring Remedies

Sleep Apnea And Stroke

Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA is a condition where the breathing of a person gets interrupted while they are sleeping, with this happening as many as 100 times in an hour. This disorder mostly comes on in people over 40 years of age, and in those who are overweight. It is seen that more men than women have this problem, which becomes equally probable as age progresses.

Sleep Apnea is known to be the cause of a variety of cardiovascular, behavioural, and neurological problems, such as heart attacks, lack of concentration, depression, high blood pressure and poor memory. It is also seen to be a risk factor for strokes. It can be treated using a mouthpiece for sleep apnea.

What is Stroke?

A stroke happens when some part of the brain gets deprived of blood and oxygen, from any number of reasons. This can be caused by a blocked or narrowed artery to the brain, or even a burst blood vessel in the brain. Low oxygen levels in the blood and brain can be caused by the breathing interruptions seen in OSA. The most probable kind of stroke to result from sleep apnea is ischemic stroke, where the blood supply to the brain is lessened.

If you Have a Stroke While Asleep

Stroke risks that result from sleep breathing are very dangerous. In such a scenario, a person who fell asleep early in the night, can have a stroke, and not know about it until several hours later. If it has been more than three hours after the stroke came on, then you have passed the time for intravenous blood clot dissolution. This means the damage caused by the stroke cannot be reversed. It is not uncommon to sustain severe brain damage or even die as a result of such a stroke.

If you Suspect a Breathing Problem

There may be one or more of the symptoms mentioned above, or maybe you were told by a loved one or sleeping partner that you snore a lot at night. The best way forward is not to take these observations lightly, and to get to a primary care physician as soon as possible. They can refer you for a sleep study, which will show if you have OSA.

It stands to reason that treating both snoring and OSA can greatly reduce your risks of developing stroke, especially while asleep. Not only that, but it is also a great way to stop snoring, ensuring a better quality of life.

Is Snoring Linked to Cancer

December 21, 2017 Snoring-Aid.com Staff Anti Snoring Remedies

Snoring And Cancer

You might get mad when your partner kicks you out of bed for snoring. Yet rather than getting mad, you need to get help, as your snoring can be a linked to complex medical conditions like sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which your breathing can become very shallow or even stop for a few seconds while you are asleep. Recent studies show that people who suffer from severe sleep apnea are about five times likely to die of cancer when compared to others. This is as per a new study that was presented at the American Thoracic Society conference.

The study tracked 1,500 people for about twenty-two years and found that mild or moderate snoring can also increase the risk of cancer. People who suffer from sleep apnea will have reduced level of oxygen in blood and to avoid suffocation from the non-availability of oxygen, tumors will grow new blood vessels, says study author F. Javier Nieto, MPH, MD, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.

The extra veins and arteries developed to counter the decreased availability of oxygen will help existing tumors to grow in a fast pace. This means that sleep apnea can provide cancer cells more chances to spread to new parts of the body.

The study has not confirmed if sleep apnea and related sleep disorders can increase the chances of getting cancer or just worsens the existing instances. More research is necessary to confirm the findings of the study. However, snoring can be cause of concern to many people.

Snoring can result in tiredness and daytime sleepiness that can lead to depression, heart problems, increased blood pressure, and accidents. If you are a regular snorer and feel tired during the day, you need to check with your doctor. This is especially important if you are overweight.

If you are suffering from snoring only, your doctor might advice some stop snoring devices like a mouthpiece for snoring. These devices can help you get rid of snoring when used properly. They can move your lower jaw forward to offer unrestricted airflow while breathing during sleep.

In addition, sleeping on your sides instead of sleeping on your back can also help you to control simple cases of snoring. Practicing good sleep habits and using a mouthpiece for snoring can help you easily curb the problem of snoring.

The Use of Tongue Stabilizing Device for Sleep Apnea and Snoring

November 23, 2017 Snoring-Aid.com Staff Anti Snoring Remedies

Tongue Stabilizing Device

Sleep apnea is characterized by breathing cessations that may last a few minutes to up to an hour of sleep and loud snoring. Apnea episodes recur in sleep due to a receding throat and especially a partial airway blockage in the back of the throat. If you have sleep apnea, the doctor would prescribe you to wear an oral device to counter the issues, which is known as Oral Appliance Therapy (OAT).

While the most common and comfortable oral appliance for sleep apnea is the anti snoring mouth guard, there are also alternatives to treat the medical condition. Each and every oral appliance for sleep apnea tries to properly align the structure of the upper airway and facilitate free air flow during sleep. While the stop snoring mouthpiece does this by advancing the lower jaw forward, a tongue stabilizing device uses suction method for the same.

An anti snoring mouth guard made of high quality resin can be custom fitted into the jaws to keep the mandible forward. The oral appliance is essentially tried as an alternative for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure therapy by sleep apnea patients. The loud noise produced by a CPAP machine puts off certain patients and thus the anti snoring mouth guard comes to the rescue of the sleep apnea patients.

Tongue stabilizing device, on the other hand, is often put on the lips and has a hole through which you can put the tongue. The plastic device is used to keep the tongue in an advanced position to alleviate the obstruction in the upper airway. Being said that, using the oral device on the tongue could be somewhat uncomfortable, say those who have used the device. Moreover, if you have sleep apnea, it is important to know whether you can put the tongue out past the teeth to secure the tongue stabilizing device in place.

Chances are you may need to keep on using the tongue stabilizing device if the obstruction in the upper airway is due to a tongue enlargement like macroglossia. However, there are cleaning routines to be followed when using the tongue stabilizing device on a routine course in order to prevent unpleasant odors. In a general sense, if you have Frenulum, it is likely that you may not be able to make full use of the tongue stabilizing device for sleep apnea and snoring.

An Overview of Snoring – Its Causes and Cures

November 8, 2017 Snoring-Aid.com Staff Anti Snoring Remedies

Snoring is a very common health issue that affects both the genders irrespective of the age. It is the noise caused by the vibrations of the soft tissues inside the mouth during sleep. Recent reports say that the problem of snoring affects about 90 million adults in the United States alone, out of which, around 37 million are regular snorers.

Snoring can happen intermittently or daily and can be triggered by a lot of factors. Moreover, studies show that overweight males are at a higher risk of snoring, and even though the health issue is not constrained to gender, women do not fall prey to snoring that often as men do.

Regardless, the problem can become more serious with age, causing disruptions in the sleep of the snorer as well as his or her partner. Snoring can result in fragmented sleep that can lead to sleepiness and tiredness the next day. Physicians say that the common adverse effects casually linked with snoring are heart problems and poor daytime functions.

The Health Risks Related to Snoring

Experts claim that most of the loud snorers suffer from sleep apnea, which is a sleep disorder in which breathing is repeatedly interrupted for brief durations of time during sleep. The word “apnea” refers to pauses in breathing that lasts for a minimum of ten seconds. However, studies show that it is possible to have sleep apnea without snoring as well; but that usually occurs in children and can be difficult to diagnose without the help of a physician.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in adults can be categorized by loud and frequent snoring, and it will usually result in interrupted and uneven sleep, which in turn can lead to low oxygen levels in the blood. The combination of disturbed sleep and low levels of oxygen can lead to heart problems, hypertension, memory, and mood issues to people suffering from sleep apnea.

Now you might have understood the importance of finding snoring aids that can help you cure the problem of snoring. However, to find the perfect snoring mouth guard or other snoring solutions, you will need to understand the exact cause of your snoring problem.

What Causes Snoring

During sleep, the muscles of your throat will relax and fall on the airway. In addition, the tongue will also fall back to make the throat region floppy and narrow, which in turn obstructs the normal flow of air during sleep. The soft tissues in the throat region will start to vibrate with the forced flow of air. This usually happens when you breathe in, and to a lesser extent while you breathe out. The vibration of the soft tissues is what we hear as the snoring sound.

The narrower the airways, the greater will be the snoring sound. In some of the cases, the throat walls can collapse completely, blocking the airway, and leading to a cessation of breathing or apnea. However, there are many factors, which can lead to the problem of snoring, and the actual reason can be determined only after proper diagnosis.

The most common factor that leads to snoring is the normal aging process. The throat muscles will relax with age and that can lead to snoring. Besides, anatomical issues in the nose and throat region, such as nasal polyps, enlarged adenoids, and tonsils, or a deviated septum can also lead to the narrowing of airways and trigger snoring issues.

Functional abnormalities like throat or nose inflammation due to allergies or infections can also lead to snoring, where the improper alignment of the jaw and a thickened tongue can also be contributing factors behind the issue. Obesity is another cause of snoring as overweight people can have a lot of fatty tissues around the throat and neck region, which narrows the airway to lead to snoring.

An added factor that can lead to snoring is the sleep position. When you sleep on your back, the muscles of the throat can easily collapse into the airway, making you snore. Apart from that, lifestyle habits such as alcohol consumption in the evening and smoking are also related to aggravating snoring issues.

How to Cure Snoring

As said, excessive snoring can be a symptom of sleep apnea. Therefore, it is better to consult with a doctor and invest in one of the best snoring aids available in the market to counter the condition. Consult with a sleep specialist immediately if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms.

Headaches in the morning
Recent weight gain
Excessive sleepiness in the morning
Waking up in the middle of the night feeling confused and exhausted
Changes in the level of concentration, attention, or memory
Waking up in the morning not feeling rested
Pauses in breathing while sleeping

Most of the snorers will be unaware of their problem and so they need to rely on the observation of their bed partner. If you have any of the symptoms listed above, or have been told that your snoring is disturbing your bedmate, you need to consult a doctor as soon as possible.

Your doctor would analyze your medical history and examine you physically to find out if you need a consultation with a sleep specialist, before suggesting any snoring aids. If your symptoms indicate heavy snoring, the sleep specialist would conduct a few tests to find out whether you suffer from sleep apnea and recommend trying different snoring aids to improve the quality of your sleep.

Depending upon the results of your sleep study, you will have the following options to treat the snoring problem.

Modifications in lifestyle – This includes tackling with the risk factors discussed above together with sleep position training and treatment of allergies if necessary.
Appliances – There are many appliances available in the market, like an anti snoring mouth guard, which can help you control snoring. Experts say that a snoring mouth guard can cure most of the instances of snoring. There are also snoring aids like chinstraps and nasal dilators that can help in controlling mild snoring episodes.
CPAP – A Continuous Positive Airway Pressure mask is like a snoring mouth guard on a machine that is used to blow air into the back of the throat to prevent the walls and muscles from collapsing. CPAP machines are mainly used in cases of sleep apnea.
Surgery – Surgery is the last option to treat the health issue, and is recommended when all the other snoring aids fail to provide any relief. Usually, using a snoring mouth guard regularly curtails the issue and evades the need for any surgical procedures.

Why Try Proactive Remedies to Clear Obesity and Sleep Apnea

November 8, 2017 Snoring-Aid.com Staff Anti Snoring Remedies

Proactive Remedies For Obesity

There have been indications that Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA may induce a pre-diabetic state in people that is characterized by lethargic sleep, impulsive eating, lapses in concentration, breathing cessations in sleep, and even loud snoring.

When you have OSA, your body starts to react to the lethargy in sleep that may affect the insulin resistance. The human body uses glucose for energy and the insulin is needed for sustained energy throughout a day’s schedule. However, insulin resistance induces higher blood sugar levels in people.

Diabetes happens especially when the cells become unable to use insulin due to insulin resistance – the body being unable to produce enough insulin for proper functioning so to speak. When insulin becomes inactive, the blood sugar levels increase in the body, which may harm the nerves, the heart, the eyes, or even the kidneys.

Extensive researches on OSA have found that sleep deprivation at night may reduce our insulin sensitivity, just the same as following a high-fat diet for half a year. This shows the importance of getting enough sleep in maintaining the blood sugar levels and lessening the risk of metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity.

The fat buildup at the back of the neck in an obese person is one of the reasons for the cessations in breathing and also loud snoring at night. Therefore, you should exercise to lose weight and thereby cure loud snoring and cut back obesity. In fact, being obese may induce snoring also, so reducing excess weight is a must for the betterment of health for everyone.

As for OSA patients, the doctors study the sleep patterns of the patient and suggest various remedies besides doing exercises and making other lifestyle changes in the routine courses.

Even as the requirement of sleep differs from individual to individual, around 7 to 8 hours of sleep is termed sufficient for an adult on an average basis. Once OSA gets diagnosed, there are advanced remedies like the mouthpiece for sleep apnea which can be worn at night for freeing up the partial airway blockages in the back of the throat.

Getting adequate sleep at night is the ultimate objective of using the mouthpiece for sleep apnea and the improvement of health. Once you stop snoring using the Mandibular Advancement Device, you sleep better and stay healthier for days on end.

Using a Snoring Chin Strap and Anti Snoring Pillow Together

November 6, 2017 Snoring-Aid.com Staff Anti Snoring Remedies

Anti Snoring Pillow

A chinstrap for snoring is a device that fits around the head, keeps the mouth closed, and thereby makes us breathe through the nose. The anti snoring pillow would especially make you raise the head by a wee bit so that your tongue won’t recede backward and you can breathe less congested. Mouth breathing may cause snoring especially when there is an obstruction in the tongue or tonsils due to excess mucus in the back of the throat. The stop snoring chin strap would curtail snoring especially when snoring is caused by mouth breathing pattern in sleep.

Even your sleeping position may cause the tongue to recede making an obstruction in the pharynx, which is the membrane lining behind the nose and mouth. If the reason for snoring is clear to you, use an anti snoring chin strap and the stop snoring pillow together for clearing the airway and thereby sleep better.

The stop snoring pillow made of organic materials is not only a head support but would curtail the strain on the spine and the neck, and has hypoallergenic properties that help in clearing bedtime allergies that trigger snoring. There are also versions of the anti snoring pillows, which train the sleepers to adopt positional therapy. The therapy is about changing the sleep position to side sleeping instead of a supine position the one with facing up and an open mouth.

As sleeping on the sides with a raised head will keep the tongue in an advanced position, you may not encounter snoring. This is one of the reasons why pillow for snoring is not at all overlooked even by the sleep apnea patients.

In case mouth breathing causes snoring in sleep, you can use the chin strap for snoring as a standalone in a regular pillow and thereby breathe better. However, it shall be noted that the chinstrap for snoring could make you a nose breather and the pillow would play the role of opening the width of the airway in the throat. Using both the devices in combination will bring certain perceived benefits in sleep.

Another encouraging sign to use the pillow for snoring and the chinstrap is the price point – they are both affordable buys and can be bought over-the-counter. The benefit of having an effortless sleep minus back spasm and the recurrent sound snoring will be an added bonus to your bedfellow.

Are Decongestants an Effective Way to Relieve Snoring?

October 23, 2017 Snoring-Aid.com Staff Anti Snoring Remedies

Decongestants And Snoring

Several factors contribute to snoring in an individual and nasal congestion is one among them. It occurs mostly during a common cold and can obstruct the airways in the nose making it difficult to breathe. Since snoring is caused mainly by the obstructions to the airways, nasal congestion can also result in inflammations in the throat, thereby contributing to snoring.

Most doctors recommend a decongestant to relieve blocked noses and the snoring issues associated with it. They act quickly to clear any blockages in the nasal and throat cavity and hence are ideal for a fast relief from snoring. However, a permanent remedy for snoring is only possible by using proper anti snoring devices.

How Decongestants Work?

Nasal decongestants are mainly used to relieve the congestion in the nasal canal caused due to a common cold, respiratory infections, or allergies. Congestion occurs when the blood vessels lining the nasal passages become inflamed and obstructs the free flow of air. Decongestants work by relieving the blood vessels and narrowing them, that will minimize the blood supply in the mucous membranes.

Snoring caused by nasal congestion will also reduce quickly when a decongestant is used. Commonly, two types of decongestants are used to treat the condition, and this varies in the method of administering. Oral decongestants can soothe the blood vessels in the nose as well as other parts of the throat, whereas nasal decongestants are used to quickly reduce swelling in the nasal cavity.

Decongestants and Snoring

Nasal and oral decongestants are sometimes recommended by a doctor to relieve snoring. It is prescribed especially if the snoring is caused due to congestion in the nasal or throat cavities. During a common cold or other respiratory infection, the blood vessels lining the nose and throat will swell up and obstruct the airflow. Because of this obstruction, there is greater chance that the breathing will cause the tissues to vibrate thereby resulting in snoring.

By using a decongestant, these inflamed blood vessels are soothed and narrowed quickly that will facilitate free airway and enable the individual to breathe freely. Oral decongestants are most commonly used to cure snoring as they can spread to the nose and throat effectively when compared to nasal decongestants. Upon administering, an oral decongestant will act within thirty minutes and can ease the congestion for about six hours.

Is it an Effective Method to Treat Snoring?

Due to its quick action, most people tend to use decongestants to relieve snoring associated with nasal congestion. However, it is a temporary measure in treating snoring as its effects last for only a few hours, after which the snoring and congestion can return in an individual.

Besides, decongestants also cause a range of side effects over persistent usage such as high blood pressure, headaches, insomnia, etc. As said, a permanent solution to cure snoring is possible only by using the right anti snoring devices such as a mouth guard. These devices treat the root cause of snoring and can permanently cure snoring when used for an extended period.

How Alcohol Affects your Sleep and Snoring

October 5, 2017 Snoring-Aid.com Staff Anti Snoring Remedies, Snoring Solutions

Alcohol Affects Snoring

A recent study conducted by the National Sleep Foundation stated that approximately 40 million people in the country suffer from some sort of sleep disorder. Additionally, approximately half of these people have fallen prey to a dangerous health condition, known as sleep apnea.

If you or your loved ones are experiencing any kind of snoring or other sleep related issues, then the first and most important thing you should do is to avoid alcoholic drinks. This is because the consumption of alcohol can severely increase the rate of your snoring and deprive you of good night’s sleep, which will gradually bring more hazardous health disorders to you.

Many people have a misconception that alcohol helps them to get a quality night’s sleep. However, the reality is that alcohol might help one to fall asleep fast but it doesn’t offer them a relaxed sleep. In other words, alcohol intake does not promote quality sleep; instead, it worsens the symptoms of snoring to a higher extent.

It is significant to realize that a normal sleep cycle contains two different sleep stages – non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep stages. During the former sleeping stage, your body will be in motion but the brain activity will be relatively less. When you drift off into the later stage of sleeping (the deeper one), your voluntary muscle movement becomes minimum.

It is true that people who drink alcohol fall asleep a lot more faster. However, the downfall is that they remain confined to the NREM sleep cycle for a higher period of time. This means that alcohol drinkers will not be able to get enough REM sleep. Therefore, they will make up in the morning feeling fatigued.

People who consume alcohol on a daily basis fail to give a chance to their body to fully recharge, even when they are sleeping in for hours. Additionally, the sedative effect of alcohol also results in the folding of the back of the throat a lot more quickly, which is one of the key causes of snoring.

If you are not able to get a good night’s sleep due to your snoring issues, then you should cut down the intake of alcohol and buy an anti snoring mouthpiece. This comfortable device will help you to cut down the rate of your snoring at a rapid pace.

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