Snoring can cause diabetes.  And heart disease or stroke.  And wrecks your brain.    

Many people treat snoring as a joke. When I tell people about PutanEndtoSnoring, they'll laugh and say: my husband needs your site. Or: I need that, I snore like a train! But my guess is, they don't do much about it, at least not until their partner threatens to move into another bedroom.

Let's say that you have no signs of sleep apnea. You're not overweight. Your partner sleeps soundly. You wake up feeling rested. The chances are that you'll feel your snoring is not a problem. But the evidence keeps piling up: snoring is not something to ignore.

Snoring can lead to diabetes. Huh? Yes, a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology tracked 70,000 women over the course of 10 years and found that those who snored frequently were twice as likely to develop diabetes as those who didn't. The author, Wael Al-Delaimy, suggests that snoring can impair the proper intake of oxygen, which may trigger the body to produce higher levels of compounds known as catecholamines. This in turn may lead to insulin resistance, a known precursor of diabetes.

Snoring will increase your blood pressure. Studies show that people who snore are more like to have a stroke or heart attack related to higher blood pressure.

Snoring will make you less sharp. Snorers underperform in tests of intelligence, speed of reaction and visual coordination, says the Medica Muelheim clinic in Germany. The thought here is that reduced oxygen intake kills your brain cells.

So what should you do if you snore? Find a cure. It's not easy, and you may ultimately be headed down a path to surgery, but if you are systematic in trying snoring remedies, you'll find something that works for you. To help you pinpoint which remedy may work for you, first take our questionnaire to determine your snoring type.

Is this information useful to you? Send us questions or feedback.  And remember, information provided by PutanEndtoSnoring does not substitute for the advice of your physician. 

  Feature article:  Home Sleep Testing -- Part II

 Last month’s newsletter described three new devices that can be used in the home to screen for obstructive sleep apnea and other breathing disorders. All three promise to slash the cost of a sleep study performed in a sleep clinic by 50%-90% -- but are all relatively new and will not provide the complete set of data that would be obtained in a clinic.

Following our newsletter, our friends at SleepQuest, who provide sleep care services in California, pointed out that even without the new devices, home sleep testing can be as reliable and comprehensive as an in-clinic study, with savings of up to 37% (SleepQuest's figures). 

Research shows that home testing can be as effective as testing performed in a sleep clinic. A 1998 study by the Hahnemann School of Medicine concludes that "unattended polysomnography can be performed in the home with reliable and high quality recordings".  

Apart from lower cost, home testing is a lot more convenient.  As SleepQuest points out: "If you were to poll otherwise healthy patients, you would find that the majority would prefer that the testing be done in the comfort of their own home. Most patients who have undergone both in-laboratory studies and home testing found that they slept better and longer at home. Furthermore, we find that patients at home are able to complete the testing process faster when compared to laboratories because home-based sleep care companies are not limited by laboratory space."  

SleepQuest and other providers use a "continuum of care" model that starts with in-home diagnosis and continues through provision of appropriate remedies such as CPAP, with ongoing follow-up.

If you suffer from tiredness and show signs of sleep apnea (take the PutanEndtoSnoring snoring questionnaire if you're not sure!), see your doctor.  And if he or she suggests you get on the waiting list for a sleep study, ask whether you can have the test done at home.  PutanEndtoSnoring plans to start a directory of providers of home sleep care and would welcome any information from our readers of any such organizations in their state.

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This section features a current posting to our forum.   We welcome all readers experiences with snoring remedies of all types.

I had the somnoplasty procedure performed by an ENT Dr. in Oct 2000.  He did four probes on my soft palate which resulted in too much tissue being shrunk and removed.  Is there any procedure that can add back tissue?   He also performed a uvulectomy and there  has been constant pain since the procedures. Thank you for your reply. -- Paula

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