Dr Paulose

Snoring and Sleep apnea in Obese

While many people think of snoring as an inconvenience or a little noisy, it is can be more serious. Snoring is your body’s way of crying out for the air that it needs to perform basic functions. You must find the reasons why you snore because it can cause a really disturbing sleep not only for you but if you have a partner then or him or her as well. Snoring can also cause your sleeping disorders like Sleep Apnea.

The biggest cause for snoring is obesity. There are other causes, smoking, drinking, sleep medications and others.

As the body becomes overweight, fat deposits develop in various areas of the body, and the neck is no exception. Excess fatty, flabby tissue within the nasal cavities offers such an obstruction. The condition is even worse when the obese person lies on their back to sleep as the front of the neck is a prime site for the accumulation of excess fat and fluid and the weight of this squashes the airways.

Snoring then occurs when air struggles to force its way through the airway obstructed by the excess fatty and flabby tissue.

The actual snoring sound is your body trying to force air through the obstructions, if the underlying cause is obesity, then the direct cause is the flabby tissue and weakened muscles in the neck, that are stopping you from breathing properly. Snoring can also cause sore throats and headaches, and a feeling of dry mouth in the morning.

In addition snoring can precursor to sleep apnea, a very serious sleep disorder. Sleep apnea is a temporary stoppage of breathing due to airway blockage like snoring, except more serious. Sleep apnea sufferers may wake up in the middle of the night, gasping for air. This affects the person’s sleep patterns, causing them to be tired, irritable, have headaches upon waking, have a dry mouth and throat and unable to concentrate during the daytime.

A proper diet and exercise can purge all these problems and consequences from your life and the lives of those you love.

Lose the weight and you’ll likely lose the snore.