I have heard something that if you snore you could have something wrong with your heart! Is that true?

Question

My dad snores and I have heard something that if you snore you could have something wrong with your heart. I am worried about him. Does anyone know if this is true? If yes what are the other side effects?

Answer 1

The noisy sounds of snoring occur when there is an obstruction to the free flow of air through the passages at the back of the mouth and nose. This area is the collapsible part of the airway (see illustration) where the tongue and upper throat meet the soft palate and uvula. Snoring occurs when these structures strike each other and vibrate during breathing.

People who snore may suffer from:

Poor muscle tone in the tongue and throat. When muscles are too relaxed, either from alcohol or drugs that cause sleepiness, the tongue falls backwards into the airway or the throat muscles draw in from the sides into the airway. This can also happen during deep sleep.
Excessive bulkiness of throat tissue. Children with large tonsils and adenoids often snore. Overweight people have bulky neck tissue, too. Cysts or tumors can also cause bulk, but they are rare.
Long soft palate and/or uvula. A long palate narrows the opening from the nose into the throat. As it dangles, it acts as a noisy flutter valve during relaxed breathing. A long uvula makes matters even worse.
Obstructed nasal airways. A stuffy or blocked nose requires extra effort to pull air through it. This creates an exaggerated vacuum in the throat, and pulls together the floppy tissues of the throat, and snoring results. So, snoring often occurs only during the hay fever season or with a cold or sinus infection.

When loud snoring is interrupted by frequent episodes of totally obstructed breathing, it is known as obstructive sleep apnea. Serious episodes last more than ten seconds each and occur more than seven times per hour. Apnea patients may experience 30 to 300 such events per night. These episodes can reduce blood oxygen levels, causing the heart to pump harder.

The immediate effect of sleep apnea is that the snorer must sleep lightly and keep his muscles tense in order to keep airflow to the lungs. Because the snorer does not get a good rest, he may be sleepy during the day, which impairs job performance and makes him a hazardous driver or equipment operator. After many years with this disorder, elevated blood pressure and HEART ENLARGEMENT may occur.

So therefore, if you snore, there isn't anything wrong with your heart, but snoring will cause heart problems over time.

Answer 2

Hope not - I've snored for years (never bothered me, but it never does I suppose does it?).

Certainly doesn't indicate any problems with the heart - but middle aged, overweight men that smoke are apparently more prone - I must be the exception (or that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

Snoring is more likely to prove fatal because someone that has to put up with it, loses it big time during a bout of sleep deprivation and kills them:-)

Don't worry - it's more common than you'd think (just as an afterthought - if it's genetic then you may very well snore as well, but no-one's had the heart to tell you, have you thought of that?).

cheers
Gray

Answer 3

Snoring by itself is most likely harmless
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA for short) is the problem that you are most likely talking about, it is when the soft tissues in and around the glotis/epiglotis (wind pipe) become redundant (large) and they start vibrating (snoring) eventually obstructing (closing) the airway, this causes the person to stop breating which eventually can lead to increased blood pressure, heart failure, lack of oxygen in the brain and the rest of the body.
diagnosis and treatment is easy, just tell his doctor

Answer 4

SLEEP APNEA which is associated with snoring can cause longterm problems with the heart. Sleep apnea is when someone who is snoring pauses or doesn't breathe for several seconds throughout sleeping. That lack of air, If not treated, can cause serious health problems.

Answer 5

I've snored loudly for 30 years and I'm still around. Lots or even most people who snore are sually over weight which yes, can lead to heart disease. If he is overweight, encourage him to loose a few pounds. Tell him it's for you, so he willbe around to be a grandpa to your kids. This usually works.

Answer 6

If everyone who snored had a heart problem the human race would have died out a long time ago.

Answer 7

You see, the major cause of snoring is due to pathology of the Throat which include adenoids, soft palate problems and so on. It has nothing do with cardiac disease.
Take him to an ENT , he will sort out the problem for you.

Answer 8

there's nothing wrong with the heart.. when you snore you experience shortness of breath & apnea (cessation of breathing)&/or airway obstruction & that breathing problem can cause cardiac arrythmias that's why doctor's discourage valsalva maneuver bec.you need to hold your breath when defecating (straining)

Answer 9

try this website

www.webDR.com
maybe this will help you some,i snore all the time and wake myself up snoring.

Answer 10

check out the condition sleep apnea, which is when the person stops breathing during sleep.