Sleep Apnea Boosts Risk of Pneumonia

Notes from Dr. Norman Blumenstock

Sleep apnea appeared to confer a higher risk for future pneumonia, possibly in a severity-dependent manner.

The risk was even higher among patients who received CPAP therapy.  No mention of oral appliances in this study.

A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) titled “Sleep apnea and risk of pneumonia: a nationwide population-based study” analyzed evidence to determine the risk of pneumonia in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.

Researchers explored the risk of incident pneumonia among adults with sleep apnea, either with or without the need of CPAP therapy. According to the article, from January 1, 2000, researchers identified adult patients with sleep apnea from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. A control cohort without sleep apnea, matched for age, sex and comorbidities, was selected for comparison. The two cohorts were followed until Dec. 31, 2010, and observed for occurrence of pneumonia.

Click below for abstract.

http://www.cmaj.ca/content/186/6/415

CMAJ reports that of the 34 100 patients (6816 study patients and 27,284 matched controls), 2,757 (8.09%) had pneumonia during a mean follow-up period of 4.50 years, including 638 (9.36%) study patients and 2119 (7.77%) controls.

“Kaplan–Meier analysis showed a higher incidence of pneumonia among patients with sleep apnea (log rank test, p< 0.001),” writes CMAJ editors. “After multivariate adjustment, patients with sleep apnea experienced a 1.20-fold (95% confidence interval 1.10–1.31) increase in incident pneumonia. The risk was even higher among patients who received CPAP therapy. Interpretation: Sleep apnea appeared to confer a higher risk for future pneumonia, possibly in a severity-dependent manner.”

Click below to access full study.

http://www.cmaj.ca/content/186/6/415.full.pdf+html

Train engineer suffered from severe sleep apnea

Notes from Dr. Norman Blumenstock:

An investigation shows the train engineer who was at the controls of a fatal commuter train crash in New York in December suffered from "severe" sleep apnea.

Updated: Tuesday, April 8 2014, 08:17 AM EDT

http://www.wwmt.com/shared/news/features/national/stories/wwmt_-train-engineer-suffered-severe-sleep-apnea-7403.shtml#.U0a5nq1dVuC

NEW YORK (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - An investigation shows the engineer who was at the controls of a fatal commuter train crash in New York in December suffered from "severe" sleep apnea.

A report from the National Transportation Safety Board says William Rockefeller didn't know he suffered from the condition.

The report also says he took an antihistamine the day of the crash because of a respiratory infection.

The train was speeding when it hit a curve and jumped the tracks, killing four people.

An official cause of the crash has yet to be determined.

Sleep Loss May Cause Brain Damage and Accelerate Onset of Alzheimer’s, Two New Studies Show

Notes from Dr. Norman Blumenstock:

Two more studies on the dangers of sleep deprivation and obstructive sleep apnea.

April 03, 2014 

Visit the Mercola Video Library

By Dr. Mercola

Could poor sleeping habits cause brain damage and even accelerate onset of Alzheimer's disease? According to recent research, the answer is yes on both accounts.

According to neuroscientist Dr. Sigrid Veasey, associate professor of Medicine and a member of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, this is the first time they've been able to show that sleep loss actually results in the loss of neurons.

A second study also suggests that if you sleep poorly, you're at increased risk for earlier onset of severe dementia.

Sleep Loss Linked to 'Massive Brain Damage'

 The first study in question, published in the Journal of Neuroscience,1, 2, 3 found that sleep is necessary for maintaining metabolic homeostasis in your brain. Wakefulness is associated with mitochondrial stress, and without sufficient sleep, neuron degeneration sets in.

The research also showed that catching up on "sleep debt" on the weekend will not prevent this damage. To reach their conclusion, the researchers submitted mice to an irregular sleep schedule similar to that of shift workers.

Inconsistent, intermittent sleep resulted in a remarkably considerable, and irreversible, brain damage—the mice actually lost 25 percent of the neurons located in their locus coeruleus,4 a nucleus in the brainstem associated with arousal, wakefulness, and certain cognitive processes. As reported by Time Magazine:5

"The scientists believe that when the mice slept inconsistently, their newer cells would create more sirtuin type 3, a protein meant to energize and protect the mice. But after several days of missing sleep, as a shift worker might, the protein creation fell off and cells began to die off at a faster pace."

Chronic Sleep Disruption May Trigger Alzheimer's Onset

In a similar vein, research published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging6suggests that people with chronic sleep problems may develop Alzheimer's disease sooner than those who sleep well. According to lead author Domenico Praticò, professor of pharmacology and microbiology/immunology in the university's School of Medicine:7

"The big biological question that we tried to address in this study is whether sleep disturbance is a risk factor to develop Alzheimer's or is it something that manifests with the disease."

Using mice bred to develop Alzheimer's, the researchers exposed one group of mice to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness, while another group was exposed to 20 hours of light and only four hours of darkness. This lack of darkness significantly reduced the amount of time the mice slept.

At the end of the eight-week long study, the mice that slept less were found to have significantly poorer memory. Their ability to learn new things was also impaired—despite the fact that the two groups of mice had about the same amount of amyloid plaque (a hallmark of Alzheimer's) in their brains. According to Dr. Praticò:

"We did observe that the sleep disturbance group had a significant increase in the amount of tau protein that became phosphorylated and formed the tangles inside the brain's neuronal cells...

Because of the tau's abnormal phosphorylation, the sleep-deprived mice had a huge disruption of this synaptic connection. This disruption will eventually impair the brain's ability for learning, forming new memory and other cognitive functions, and contributes to Alzheimer's disease."

Since both groups of mice were bred to develop Alzheimer's but the sleep deprived group developed these dementia-related problems sooner than the others, the researchers believe that poor sleep acts as a trigger of pathological processes that accelerate the disease. The researchers concluded that "chronic sleep disturbance is an environmental risk factor for Alzheimer's disease."

Previous research, published in the journal Science,8 has also revealed your brain removes toxic waste during sleep through what has been dubbed "the glymphatic system."9, 10, 11, 12, 13 This system ramps up its activity during sleep, thereby allowing your brain to clear out toxins, including harmful proteins linked to brain disorders such as Alzheimer's.

By pumping cerebral spinal fluid through your brain's tissues, the glymphatic system flushes the waste, from your brain, back into your body's circulatory system. From there, the waste eventually reaches your liver, where it's ultimately eliminated. So it's quite likely that sleep affects your brain function and your risk of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's in more ways than one.

Elderly Women Are Twice as Likely to Develop Alzheimer's Than Breast Cancer

Being aware of the links between sleep and Alzheimer's onset may be particularly important for women, as they are at greatest risk for the disease.14According to the 2014 Facts and Figures report issued by the Alzheimer's Association,15 women over the age or 60 have a one-in-six chance of developing Alzheimer's—nearly double the risk of men, who have a one-in-11 chance. Even more disturbing, a woman's chance of developing Alzheimer's is twice as great as her risk of developing breast cancer!

Since there's no cure, and no truly effective treatments, taking steps to prevent Alzheimer's becomes paramount. And it seems clear that sleeping properly is one important factor to take into consideration. For more information about Alzheimer's prevention, please see my previous article "How to Prevent Alzheimer's Disease—A Neurologist Speaks Out."

How Light and Dark Affects Your Sleep

Fortunately, there are many ways to improve your sleep, thereby helping to reduce any risks to your brain health. Maintaining a natural rhythm of exposure to sunlight during the day and darkness at night is one crucial foundational component of sleeping well. This was addressed in a recent interview with Dan Pardi (@dansplanhealth), a researcher who works with the Behavioral Sciences Department at Stanford University and the Departments of Neurology and Endocrinology at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

The reason why light is important is because it serves as the major synchronizer of your master clock. This master clock is a group of cells in your brain called the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN). As a group, these nuclei synchronize to the light-dark cycle of your environment when light enters your eye. You also have other biological clocks throughout your body, and those clocks subsequently synchronize to your master clock.

Most people in Western societies spend the larger portion of each day indoors, which essentially puts you in a state of “light deficiency” as outdoor light is far more intense than any indoor light fixture. Meanwhile, most people are exposed to too muchlight in the evening, at a time when the natural light has faded.

To maintain healthy master clock timing, aim to adjust your light exposure to a more natural light rhythm, where you get bright light exposure during the day and limited blue light and bright light exposure once the sun sets. Pardi recommends getting at least 30-60 minutes of outdoor light exposure during daylight hours, in order to “anchor” your master clock rhythm. The ideal time to go outdoors is right around solar noon but any time during daylight hours is useful.

Research also shows that exposure to bright room light before bedtime suppresses melatonin production in 99 percent of individuals. This can effectively rob you of sleep by masking sleepiness, as this hormone influences what time of day or night your body thinks it is - regardless of what time the clock on the wall displays - and because it’s one of several key biochemical signals that stimulate sleep onset and maintenance.

Shift Workers Are Particularly Vulnerable to Accidents and Disease

One of the worst things you can do to disrupt your body clock is engage in regular night shift work. I realize many people may not be able to avoid night shifts once they've chosen certain professions, but it is vital to understand that when you regularly shift your sleep patterns, you are in fact seriously compromising your health and longevity—in more ways than one. For example, in a study16 of nurses, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health revealed that a woman's risk of type 2 diabetes rises according to how many years of night-shift work she has completed. Even working a night shift periodically for three years increased diabetes risk by 20 percent, and this increased with time.

The lack of sleep, or poor sleep that comes with shift work and jobs where you're working double shifts or other erratic schedules also makes you far more vulnerable to accidents. The recent subway train accident at Chicago's O'Hare airport17 is a perfect example In this case, more than 30 people were injured, and the accident caused an estimated $6 million in property damage. . I was born and grew up in Chicago and this is the airport I regularly use.  According to the Associated Press18:

"The operator of a Chicago commuter train that crashed at O'Hare International Airport acknowledged she dozed off before the accident and had also done so last month when she overshot a station platform, a federal investigator said Wednesday. Before the crash, the operator had been running trains on the nation's second-largest public transportation system for just two months.

In Monday's accident, which injured more than 30 people, she woke up only as the eight-car train jolted onto the platform and barreled up an escalator leading into the airport. The accident occurred around 3 a.m., as the driver was nearing the end of her shift. The woman had an erratic work schedule and investigators were looking to see if that played a role in her evident fatigue... [T]he operator was an extra-board employee, meaning she filled in to cover shifts for regular employees and her hours varied from one day to the next."

If you currently work nights, I would strongly suggest trying to switch your hours, or at the very least restrict your night shift duty to a couple months at a time. This will at least give your body a chance to readjust in between. If it is not possible for you to avoid working the night shift, you can somewhat counter the health effects by keeping to a schedule. By being consistent, your body's clock will eventually adjust to your sleep/wake cycle, and this is LESS damaging than if you constantly change shifts and expect your body clock to adjust.

Next, although day sleeping makes it much more challenging to create a dark environment, it is essential that you make your bedroom pitch-black, even if you're sleeping at noon, as exposure to light squelches the production of melatonin. Even the dim glow from your clock radio could be interfering with your ability to sleep -- and more importantly, your long-term health.

Other Helpful Tips to Improve Your Sleep

Besides maintaining a natural circadian rhythm, there are a number of additional ways to help improve your sleep if you're still having trouble. Below are half a dozen of my top guidelines for promoting good sleep. For a comprehensive sleep guide, please see my article "33 Secrets to a Good Night's Sleep."

1. Avoid watching TV or using your computer at night—or at least about an hour or so before going to bed—as these technologies can have a significantly detrimental impact on your sleep. TV and computer screens emit blue light, similar to daylight. This tricks your brain into thinking it's still daytime, thereby shutting down melatonin secretion. Under normal circumstances, your brain starts secreting melatonin during something called dim light melatonin onset. If the light in your environment doesn't dim, because of multiple artificial light sources, melatonin won't be released and this affects sleep timing, quantity, and quality.
2. Sleep in darkness. Remember, light can disrupt your internal clock and your pineal gland's production of melatonin. Refrain from using night-lights, cover up your clock radio, cover your windows — I recommend using blackout shades or drapes, or use an eye mask—and don't turn on a light if you have to go to the bathroom at night. You don't need to sleep in complete darkness. The intensity of light needs to be at a certain level (different levels depending on the spectrum) to suppress melatonin production. Complete darkness is probably best however.
3. Keep the temperature in your bedroom no higher than 70 degrees F. Many people keep their bedrooms too warm. A reduction in core body temperature is a part of the sleep-initiation and sleep maintenance process. A room temperature that is too warm or too cool can prevent your core temperature from lowering to its ideal place for good sleep. Aim to keep your bedroom temperature between 60 to 68 degrees, and identify the best room temperature for you through trial and error.
4. Take a hot bath or shower 30 min before bedtime. The hot bath increases your core body temperature, opening up the blood vessels in your limbs. When you get out of the bath, heat can leave your body easily (if the room temperature is cool), abruptly dropping your core body temperature, making you drowsy and ready for great sleep.
5. Check your bedroom for electro-magnetic fields (EMFs). These can disrupt your pineal gland and the production of melatonin and serotonin, and may have other negative effects as well. To do this, you need a gauss meter. You can find various models online, starting around $50 to $200. Some experts even recommend pulling your circuit breaker before bed to shut down all power in your house.
6. Move alarm clocks and other electrical devices away from your bed. If these devices must be used, keep them as far away from your bed as possible, preferably at least three feet. This serves at least two functions. First, it can be stressful to see the time when you can't fall asleep, or wake up in the middle of the night. Secondly, the glow from a clock radio can be enough to suppress melatonin production and interfere with your sleep. Cell phones, cordless phones and their charging stations should ideally be kept three rooms away from your bedroom to prevent harmful EMF's.

Sleeping Well Is Part of a Healthy Lifestyle Plan

In summary, if you want to get good sleep, you have to have properly aligned circadian rhythms. If you don’t, aspects of your waking/sleeping system will be working at the wrong time. The ramifications of this go far beyond daytime sleepiness, as the research discussed above can attest to.

So first and foremost, make sure to get daylight exposure, ideally around solar noon, for at least half an hour or more each day. A gadget that can be helpful in instances when you, for some reason, cannot get outside during the day is a blue-light emitter. Philips makes one called goLITE BLU. (You can find it on Amazon19 for less than $150.) It's a small light therapy device you can keep on your desk. Use it twice a day for about 15 minutes to help you anchor your circadian rhythm if you cannot get outdoors.

Then, in the evening, dim environmental lights and avoid the blue light wavelength. Use blue-blocking light bulbs, dim your lights with dimmer switches and turn off unneeded lights, and if using a computer, install blue light-blocking software like f.lux.20 Also keep in mind that digital alarm clocks with blue light displays could have a detrimental effect. Last but not least, when it's time to go to sleep, make sure your bedroom is very dark. I recommend installing blackout shades for this purpose. A far less expensive alternative is to use a sleep mask to avoid disrupting your melatonin production and circadian rhythm. 

How to get your kid to sleep

Notes from Dr. Norman Blumenstock:

Kids can also have obstructive sleep apnea.

PIPPA GARDNER FOR 7NEWS INVESTIGATIONSMarch 19, 2014, 7:39 pm

Up to 30 per cent of children under the age of three will suffer some form of sleep disorder.

Youngsters who do not get enough sleep can suffer from behavioural problems such mood swings and even depression.

Tresillian is sleep bootcamp for tired parents and their kids.

"Sleep is so important for a child's brain development for growth, and to have good behaviour,” a sleep expert from Tresillian said.

A common complaint from parents with kids who can’t sleep properly is ‘night walking’, a pattern which experts at Tresillian say kids can form.

Tresillian's tips to fix night walking

A consistent bedtime routine.
A calm quiet environment to sleep.
Being persistent and patient when resettling.

“Being consistent and persistent with their routine is really important and it takes six weeks once people have come into Tresillian to continue this to have the routine set, so it's not a quick fix,” the expert said.

Many parents also battle with short day sleeps.

Tresillian's tips to help getting kids to sleep

Set up a bedtime routine and stick to it.
Read your child's cues by putting them to bed before they're exhausted.
Try playing music.

“It’s just important they have that consistency of you coming back and reassuring them, eventually that will develop into a good routine and eventually they will sleep."

Tired parents will try anything to get their child to fall sleep, but Tresillian says parents should not fall into the trap of patting, rocking or driving your baby to sleep to create sleep associations that can become hard to break.

However, for the small percentage of children who have sleep problems that require medical treatment, experts say it is important parents do not ignore warning signs, such as snoring.

“Ninety per cent of children do not snore, so when a child snores parents should not assume it is just ‘cute’ or it is just the child and that it's normal to snore, [because] it's not,” the expert said.

Four-year-old Abby was a terrible sleeper and also snored, until her mother took action.

"Every morning she was in a bad mood and crying when she would wake up and really loud snoring every night,” Abby’s mum Laura said.

Enlarged tonsils blocking her airways triggered Abby’s snoring, a condition known as sleep apnoea.

Her tonsils have since been removed.

“Since the surgery, it's been amazing, she wakes up happy, she's got more concentration, we don't hear her snoring and she doesn't wake up in the middle of the night,” Laura said.

Snoring During Pregnancy May Harm Your Baby’s Health

Notes from Dr. Norman Blumenstock:
Pregnant women who snore, can increase their risk of pre-eclampsia or high blood pressure.

By Eric Cohen, MD

Published Mar 12, 2014

For a lot of us, snoring is simply a part of life.  But while millions deal with and have learned to live with snoring, it could have a significant impact on expectant mothers. Scientists have looked into how snoring can affect a woman during pregnancy, but a recent study showed that snoring can also affect an unborn child.

Snoring can sometimes be attributed to a sleep disorder known  as sleep apnea, which causes one to momentarily stop breathing while asleep. This can happen a few times a night or, in more severe cases, up to hundreds of times, causing the amount of oxygen in the blood to decrease. Untreated sleep apnea can lead to other health problems, and in pregnant women, can increase the risk of pre-eclampsia or high blood pressure.

With this in mind, it’s easy to see why doctors would be concerned about an infant’s health if its mother was snoring during pregnancy and had a sleep disorder. To find out just what these snoring risks were, the scientists who conducted the new study followed more than 1,600 mothers during their pregnancies; one-third of the pregnant women studied were regular snorers. Among the snorers, quite a number had cesarean deliveries; not only that, many were emergency C-sections. Another trend noticed among the mothers who snored was that their newborns weighed less than average. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but smaller infants have been found to be more prone to certain medical conditions.

Now that this new information has come to light, doctors can prepare accordingly. Screening expectant mothers for disorders such as sleep apnea is clearly essential. Checking breathing and oxygen levels are steps that can be taken early on in a woman’s pregnancy to find the cause of her snoring and perhaps even eliminate it. In the case of sleep apnea, there are treatments that can also help patients rest better and maintain proper oxygen levels, leading to better quality of life for mom and baby.

Are you kept awake by your partner's snoring? Get them to sing.

Notes from Dr. Norman Blumenstock:
Singing may not cure snoring or obstructive sleep apnea but increased muscle tone from singing may be somewhat helpful.

10:30am Friday 7th March 2014 in News

Rock choir helps reduce snoring

PEOPLE suffering from bad nights sleep or kept awake by their partner's snoring, should start singing.

According to research joining a Rock Choir group can help boost people's mental health and wellbeing, while reducing snoring.

Helen Just, leader of the Droitwich Spa, Great Malvern and Worcester Rock Choir, said a study carried out by the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust found preliminary evidence that refutal singing exercises could benefit people who snore.

She said: "This prompted us to ask Rock Choir members whether they or their partners had noticed any improvements in their snoring since joining and over 10 per cent of respondents said yes.

"Singing helps to exercise and strengthen muscles in the soft palette, which is where the snoring vibration occurs."

She added that some of her members that were regularly singing with her said they felt happier, had increased their confidence and had even lost weight.

Ms. Just offers a free trial to all new members at the weekly sessions across the county.

There are no auditions and no requirements to read music or have any previous singing experience to join the contemporary choir and singers can expect to attend performances throughout the year.

For a free taster session or more information about times, go to rockchoir.com or call 01252 714276.

Snoring and Sleep

Notes from Dr. Norman Blumenstock:
Find out about the symptoms and solutions of snoring.  Learn how proper treatment and decision can help you on National Sleep Foundation.

Snoring is noisy breathing during sleep. It is a common problem among all ages and both genders, and it affects approximately 90 million American adults — 37 million on a regular basis. Snoring may occur nightly or intermittently. Persons most at risk are males and those who are overweight, but snoring is a problem of both genders, although it is possible that women do not present with this complaint as frequently as men. Snoring usually becomes more serious as people age. It can cause disruptions to your own sleep and your bed-partner's sleep. It can lead to fragmented and un-refreshing sleep which translates into poor daytime function (tiredness and sleepiness). The two most common adverse health effects that are believed to be casually linked to snoring are daytime dysfunction and heart disease . About one-half of people who snore loudly have obstructive sleep apnea .

While you sleep, the muscles of your throat relax, your tongue falls backward, and your throat becomes narrow and "floppy." As you breathe, the walls of the throat begin to vibrate - generally when you breathe in, but also, to a lesser extent, when you breathe out. These vibrations lead to the characteristic sound of snoring. The narrower your airway becomes, the greater the vibration and the louder your snoring. Sometimes the walls of the throat collapse completely so that it is completely occluded, creating a condition called apnea (cessation of breathing). This is a serious condition which requires medical attention.

There are several factors which facilitate snoring. First, the normal aging process leads to the relaxation of the throat muscles, thus resulting in snoring. Anatomical abnormalities of the nose and throat, such as enlarged tonsils or adenoids, nasal polyps, or deviated nasal septum cause exaggerated narrowing of the throat during sleep and thus lead to snoring. Functional abnormalities (e.g. inflammation of the nose and/or throat as may occur during respiratory infection or during allergy season) will result in snoring. Sleep position, such as sleeping on your back, may lead to snoring in some people. Alcohol is a potent muscle relaxant and its ingestion in the evening will cause snoring. Muscle relaxants taken in the evening may lead to or worsen snoring in some individuals. One of the most important risk factors is obesity, and in particular having a lot of fatty tissue around the neck.

SYMPTOMS:

People who snore make a vibrating, rattling, noisy sound while breathing during sleep. It may be a symptom of sleep apnea. Consult your doctor if you snore and have any of the following symptoms or signs:

• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Morning headaches
• Recent weight gain
• Awakening in the morning not feeling rested
• Awaking at night feeling confused
• Change in your level of attention, concentration, or memory
• Observed pauses in breathing during sleep

TREATMENT:

Snorers are generally unaware of their snoring, and must rely on the observations of their bed-partners. Some snorers may wake up at night choking and gasping for breath, but this occurs relatively infrequently. If you have been told that your snoring is disturbing to others, or you have some of the symptoms and signs listed above, consult your doctor. He or she will take your history, perform a physical exam and will determine whether you require a consultation with a sleep specialist and a sleep test to determine if you have sleep apnea and to see how your snoring affects your sleep quality.

Depending on the results of the sleep study, you will be presented with a series of options to treat snoring. These will generally include:

1. lifestyle modification (i.e. avoidance of risk factors mentioned above, sleep position training if applicable, treatment of allergies if applicable, etc…);
2. surgery (generally on the back of the throat and roof of the mouth, or the nose if applicable, using a variety of instruments including scalpel, laser, or microwaves);
3. appliances (mainly oral appliances constructed by a dentist experienced in treatment of snoring and sleep apnea, but also other appliances such as nasal dilators); 
4. and sometimes CPAP (a continuous positive airway pressure appliance which blows room air into the back of the throat thus preventing it from collapse).

The latter method is the treatment of choice for sleep apnea. If you are diagnosed with this condition, it is imperative that you pursue treatment aggressively; untreated sleep apnea will lead to daytime dysfunction and puts you at a higher risk for vascular disease.

Your own doctor, or sleep specialist, will talk to you in detail about each of the above treatment approaches, their chances of success, possible complications, and costs. They will be able to advise you which of the above treatment approaches is the correct one for you.

COPING:

People who suffer mild or occasional snoring, who wake up feeling refreshed, and function well during the day may first try the following behavioral remedies, before consulting their doctor:

• Lose weight
• Avoid tranquilizers, sleeping pills, and antihistamines before bedtime
• Avoid alcohol for at least four hours and heavy meals or snacks for three hours before retiring
• Establish regular sleeping patterns
• Sleep on your side rather than your back

POLL DATA:

The National Sleep Foundation's 2002 Sleep in America Poll revealed that 37% of adults report they had snored at least a few nights a week during the previous year. In fact, 27% said that they snore every night or almost every night. Males were more likely than females to report snoring at least a few nights a week (42% vs. 31%).

NSF's 2003 poll, which focused on older adults between the ages of 55-84, reveals that about one-third of older adults overall (32%) report they had snored at least a few nights a week in the past year, with about four in ten 55-64 year olds (41%) most likely to have said they snore compared to about one-fourth of 65-74 year olds (28%) and 75-84 year olds (22%). Men were significantly more likely than women to report snoring at least a few nights a week (40% vs. 26%).

Reviewed by Victor Hoffstein, M.D.