30% of all adults and 60% of men who are older than 60 tend to snore (Maurer 1998, Peterson 1997).
Harmless snoring can manifest occasionally, for example after alcohol consumption, and has a regular breathing rate, a low frequency and is harmonic. But when snoring occurs every night, is very strong and is sometimes “explosive”, then it can potentially become a health hazard.
When we fall asleep and we gradually move towards a deep rest, the muscles of our palate, of the tongue and of the throat relax. In some cases, once the total relaxation has been reached and we are sleeping deeply, these muscles can partially block the airflow and thus vibrating noisily.
The tongue and the uvula, for instance, can fall backwards and block the airflow, mainly if sleeping on one's back.
This occurs more frequently if the pre-existing space aimed to the airflow is tight, due to anatomic conditions or other factors. The more negative pressure you need for introducing air in your lunges, the more your soft tissues of the throat (tongue, soft palate, uvula) are pushed downwards and vibrate noisily reducing even more the space for the airflow.
It can also occur that the soft tissues of your throat are pushed downwards and start vibrating, because of a nasal congestion and so a bigger effort to inspire air is required.
Usually people do not contact their doctor simply because of a snoring problem.
This happens because most people don't see snoring as a pathology that needs to be prevented and cured, but it is just an imperfection that needs to be handled hopelessly within the family circuit.
It's easier, however, for a person to go to the doctor pushed by what are actually the symptoms of this disorder: daily drowsiness, persistent headaches, lack of focus, difficulties in moving, heart arrhythmia, hypertension.
