Who snores more, you or your partner? And if that’s the case, you’re in good company. An estimated 45 percent of individuals sometimes snore, with another 25 percent doing so on a regular basis. Snoring may seem like a harmless nuisance, but it really has significant negative effects on your health. Snoring is a common symptom of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts throughout the night. Obstructive sleep apnea has been linked to cardiovascular disease, stroke, and excessive blood pressure. And if you smoke, that habit might be making your snoring worse.
In this post, we’ll discuss the link between smoking and snoring, the dangers of each habit individually, and steps you may do to lessen those risks. Please visit our website to find out how smoking affects your sleep and leads to snoring.
Why Do People Snore?
Snoring causes must be established before we can go into the correlation between smoking and snoring. The muscles in your throat relax when you sleep. Because of this, you risk having trouble breathing. Snoring is caused by the vibration of throat tissues when air passes more slowly through a narrowed airway.
There are a number of risk factors that might make you more likely to snore.
Obesity:
The added bulk increases the likelihood of the airway being narrowed or clogged.
When you drink alcohol before bed, the muscles in your body, particularly your throat, relax. This might cause you to snore.
Sleeping on one’s back may obstruct breathing because the tongue and soft palate fall back into the back of the throat.
Cigarette smoke irritates the tissues in your throat and may cause inflammation, both of which restrict airflow.
In what ways can tobacco use exacerbate snoring?
There are several mechanisms through which smoking promotes snoring. To begin with, smoking may irritate and even induce inflammation of the throat’s tissues. This may restrict airflow across your airway, making it more likely that you will snore.
In addition, smoking might exacerbate preexisting conditions that cause or exacerbate snoring. Smoking, for instance, may cause:
Studies have indicated that smokers have a higher chance of becoming overweight or obese than nonsmokers do. As we discussed before, having excess weight increases the likelihood that your airway could shrink or get clogged.
Smoking may irritate the lining of your nose and sinuses, leading to inflammation and edema, both of which can contribute to or exacerbate nasal congestion. Congestion in the nose makes it harder to breathe via the nose, thus this is a problem. Snoring is more common among mouth-breathers.
Cause or exacerbate sleep apnea
Occlusive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disorder in which breathing stops and starts repeatedly during the night. Smoking increases the chance of developing OSA. Snoring is often brought on by sleep apnea.
What Dangers Do Smoking and Snoring Pose to Your Health?
The negative effects on health from both smoking and snoring are well-documented. Tobacco use is directly linked to an increased risk of developing lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. Conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease might potentially become more severe.
As we’ve already established, snoring may be an indicator of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The prevalence of OSA is associated with an increased danger of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and hypertension.
Your risk of these health issues increases if you also smoke and snore. Reducing your risk and improving your health may be as simple as giving up smoking and finding a solution to your snoring.
How Can You Lessen the Danger? If you’re a smoker who snores, quitting is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
