How to Stop Snoring - Different ways to stop snoring

Treatment options for your snoring depend on a number of factors, but the two key ones are these:

Do you snore through your nose or through your throat?
Do you snore and have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)?

At Resmed, we have solutions for throat snorers, as well as for throat snorers with sleep apnea. This includes both mild to moderate OSA as well as more severe cases of OSA.

Throat snorers who don’t have sleep apnea

You fall into this category if you’ve tested for sleep apnea and obtained an apnea-hypopnoea index (AHI) score of less than 5. If you don’t know what your AHI is, we strongly recommend you get screened. Otherwise, you risk adopting a solution to the wrong problem.

At ResMed, we believe one of the most efficient treatment options for throat snoring is a custom made device^1,2 that simply fits in your mouth and helps keep your lower jaw forward while you sleep – this in turn helps keep the back of your throat open.

These devices go by many names but we call ours a mandibular repositioning device (MRD) and its named Narval CC™*.

Are you a nose snorer? Then MRDs are probably not for you. You’ll need to investigate options that include sprays, nose strips, chin straps and more. Visit your country’s sleep association for recommendations.

Throat snorers with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea

If your AHI levels fall between 5 and 30, ResMed offers both the Narval MRD as well as full range of positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy options. MRDs are a first intention therapy option and a clinically-proven alternative to PAP therapy for snorers with mild to moderate OSA.^3,4,5

Users tend to prefer oral appliances over CPAP, so they tend to wear them for longer periods.⁶This higher ease of adoption means that they are equally as effective as CPAP.⁷

Throat snorers with severe OSA

If your AHI levels are over 30, your sleep physician will recommend PAP therapy as a first choice. There are different types of PAP therapy, including APAP, CPAP, and bi-level therapy. ResMed has a full range of masks, devices and accessories to make your PAP therapy as comfortable and non-intrusive as possible.

If you’ve demonstrated that you do not support PAP therapy, your sleep physician can prescribe an MRD. In fact, in the largest multilevel study of its kind, users with severe OSA who regularly wore Narval CC were just as likely to reduce their AHI levels by 50% as wearers with mild to moderate OSA.¹

Other options for treating snoring include surgery and radiofrequency treatment.

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Sleep Revitalizes your Mind, Body, & Heart

The body goes under many transformations, while it is in the state of rest during sleep. There are many essential functions that take place in the body such as tissue repair, memory and energy restoration, release of essential hormones, muscle relaxation, and others. While you are asleep, the brain releases indispensable hormones that promote tissue growth. This process helps your body rejuvenate from the daily hustle bustle. Moreover, tissue growth aids in the recovery from wounds or cuts. Sunita Kumar, Co-Director, Centre for Sleep Disorders, Loyola University Medical Centre, aptly remarks that during sleep the body produces more white blood cells, to fight countless bacteria and viruses¹. The heart rate also registers a dip during sleep, which according to Ms. Kumar, strengthens the heart as it is at rest with lowered activity. Moreover, a good night’s sleep also reduces the chances of getting afflicted with heart diseases.

Good Sleep = Sharp Memory

Sleep is a time, when becomes sharp and strong. Sleep quantity and quality play a fundamental role in determining what one remembers and what one doesnt. Therefore, development of long-term memory (LTM) from short-term memory (STM) happens during sleep. Scientific researches state that the brain follows a different mechanism for storing memories through the hippocampus and neo-cortex areas. Hippocampus helps you to remember your life experiences (childhood memories), while the neo-cortex is responsible for remembering the concepts you learn (name of a color). Communications and sync between the two, helps in learning new data and updating old ones.

Sleep Steers Hormonal Hunger

Sleep not only affects your energy levels and mental functions, but also regulates your body weight. Improper sleep is related to the increasing cases of obesity, worldwide². Many hormones which regulate the feeling of hunger (ghrelin) and signal the feeling of being full (leptin), are all influenced by the quality of your sleep. Leptin: This is also known as satiety hormone, which is produced by the fat cells of the body. It prevents overeating by sending signals to the brain that the body does not require more food, as there is enough to fuel the body. Ghrelin: This hunger hormone is produced in the gastrointestinal tract, which signifies the body that there is need for food. This hormone rises in the body, when you feel hungry and decreases when you have consumed some food. Studies show that people who have disrupted patterns of sleep - have larger appetite, because of higher ghrelin secretion and lowered secretion of leptin. This imbalance in the secretion of these hormones is a result of improper sleep patterns³.

Now that we have talked about why sleep is essential, in the next section - we will be discussing in detail some of the significant parameters, that define good or bad sleep.