Startling Snoring Facts: Fascinating Facts For Your Family

Snoring is a problem that touches an incredible number of people all over the world.  In the United States alone there are an estimated forty million snorers. While in the United Kingdom the figure is around fifteen million and in Germany the estimates exceed fifteen million. It is believed that worldwide there are over on billion people who snore because of some type of nasal airway blockage.

Research is providing clearer evidence about the enormous problems of snoring.  Including that in their early thirties twenty percent of men and about five percent of woman snore.  But, by the time they have reached their sixties this rises significantly to sixty percent of men and forty percent of women. Reasons for the differences between men and woman are quite simple.  More men tend to be overweight or at least have larger necks. A neck size of at least seventeen inches almost guarantees you’ll snore. Eighty five percent of men who snored do not consider it a problem and instead complain that their wives are light sleepers.

Woman snorers are usually shorter and heavier that their female non-snoring counterparts. When women snore it is more commonly through their noses than their mouths whereas for men it is more likely to be both.   Women are more apt to try to find treatment for a snoring problem than men. The reasons women snore less on average are that they tend to have smaller necks, larger air passages and a smaller uvula. All of which make it less likely for her to snore.

Interestingly over eighty percent of snorers do not even notice that they’re snoring, until it’s pointed out to them, and sleep comfortably uninterrupted by their own racket.  Young children who snore often have tonsil or adenoid problems. Yet, studies show that as many as six percent of young children snore.

One concern among health professionals is that snoring, its causes and outcomes, are not taken seriously enough in the medical arena. Too often during a routine physical the general practitioner does not ask anything about a patient’s sleeping habits. Statistics show that only seventy percent of sufferers ever mention sleep problems to their physicians and then only ten percent have tried to follow it up. As well, dentists, who actually design, or at least fit, many of the snoring appliances, almost never inquire about sleeping difficulties with their patients.

The medical field and general public needs to be educated on snoring, and related sleep disorders. Sleep apnea, which is potentially the worst problem of people who snore, is not only dangerous to the person suffering from it but to the public who may interact with them. According to current research, motor vehicle accidents are caused less often by drunk drivers then by those with sleep disorders.  There is research to back this up as studies have shown that seventy four percent of people with sleep apnea have had at least one car accident.  Remember, snoring can be the first indicator of sleep disorders.