In What Stage of Sleep Does Snoring Occur?

Snoring is not just an annoying habit. If snoring is frequent and loud, it may disrupt the snorer's sleep cycle and cause memory problems, depression or myriad other physical and mental disorders. It even may be a sign of sleep apnea, a serious sleep disorder. Snoring can occur during different stages of sleep.

Sleep Stages

• A person goes through several stages of sleep. During each stage, his body is at a different stage of relaxation. In the alpha to theta transition stage, which is the first stage of sleep, he begins to feel drowsy and starts to lose awareness of the outside world. In the second stage of sleep, sigma waves occur and his body begins to suppress muscle tone. In delta sleep, the third stage, he has almost no muscle tone. In rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the muscles are still very atonic, resulting in the sleeper's inability to move, presumably to eliminate the chance of injury during vivid dreams.

Occurrence

• "Snoring is often heaviest during deep sleep. During REM sleep, the stage when dreaming occurs, snoring may vanish or grow irregular," according to a 1982 article in an "Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology" supplement.

  Not everyone snores in deep sleep, though, and snorers may not be in deep sleep. Snoring changes throughout the stages of sleep. It is more likely when the snorer's body is more relaxed than usual. Snoring in the first and second stages of sleep is often a sign of a problem more serious than snoring, such as sleep apnea.

Causes

• Snoring results from a partial restriction in the airway, either from the tongue falling into the throat or the sides of the throat drawing inward. The snoring sound is the vibration of the tongue and uvula as air passes through. According to an article on The Ohio State University Medical Center website, "It is estimated that 45 percent of all adults snore occasionally, and 25 percent habitually snore." Several factors increase the chances a person snores, including poor tone of throat muscles, being overweight, consumption of alcohol or a sleep aid, a sinus infection or blockage and a long uvula or palate.

Prevention

• Snoring should not be ignored or simply tolerated. Edward Bixler, a psychiatry professor at Pennsylvania State University's Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, stated in a Pennsylvania State University website article that "snoring is the milder form of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). It's a partial restriction of the airway, and apnea is a complete restriction."

  To prevent mild snoring, The Ohio State University Medical Center suggests exercising and eating a proper diet as well as implementing other aspects for a healthful life; weight loss; not taking tranquilizers, sleeping pills or antihistamines prior to sleeping; not drinking alcoholic beverages within at least four hours of sleeping; not eating "heavy meals" within three hours of going to bed; sticking to a set schedule for sleeping; sleeping on a side; and raising the bed's headboard about 4 inches.