Why Do People Snore When They Sleep?

Snoring is a familiar problem to millions of people. People who snore have likely woken up countless times to the complaints of a loved one. Those who don't snore may have lost hours of sleep because of the loud, sometimes disturbing noise.

What Is Snoring?

• Snoring describes the noisy breathing caused by the vibration of one of the structures in the nose and mouth, such as the uvula, soft palate, pharyngeal walls or epiglottis.

Function

• People snore when air passages in the throat become obstructed. This occurs for a variety of reasons, including weakness of the throat muscles, the use of relaxants such as alcohol or other drugs, the accumulation of fat around the throat, the tongue dropping to the back of the mouth, incorrect jaw position or other obstruction of the throat.

Considerations

• Excessive snoring may be related to obstructive sleep apnea, a potentially dangerous sleep disorder that occurs when the airway behind the tongue repeatedly collapses, asphyxiating the sufferer hundreds of times throughout the night. Sleep apnea leads to sleep deprivation, extreme drowsiness, difficulty driving safely and other risks affiliated with lack of sleep. Sleep apnea has also been linked to high blood pressure and increased risk of stroke or heart disease.