Snorers may be sending their partners to an early grave by pushing up their blood pressure, according to a new study.
Scientists have found that blood pressure increases in response to noises at night, whether you are awake or asleep.
Snoring is often one of the telltale signs of sleep apnea. While many people with apnea snore, not everyone who snores has apnea.
Aircraft noise and heavy traffic also have health impacts, the study found.
High blood pressure or hypertension is a known risk factor for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and dementia.
For their study, scientists monitored 140 sleeping volunteers at their homes near Heathrow and other major European airports.
They found that the blood pressure of participants went up noticeably after a "noise event," which was a sound louder than 35 decibels. This included a passenger jet flying overhead, traffic passing outside or snoring.
Similar blood pressure rises were triggered by other noise sources such as traffic.
Dr. Lars Jarup, one of the study’s authors from Imperial College London, said: "Noise from air traffic can be a source of irritation, but it can also be damaging for people’s health.
"Our studies show that night-time aircraft noise can affect your blood pressure instantly and increase the risk of hypertension," he said.
Dr. Nancy Collop, of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, said the study, published in the European Heart Journal, made sense.
"There have already been studies on dogs which show that those who are subjected to loud noise such as snoring may suffer from intermediate high blood pressure," she said.
Almost everyone is likely to snore at one time or another, and while most people with apnea snore, not everyone who snores has apnea. It has been found in all age groups. Estimates of snoring vary widely based on how it is defined.
Habitual snoring has been found in about 24 percent of adult women and 40 percent of adult men. Both men and women are more likely to snore as they age. Men, however, become less likely to snore after the age of 70.
Obstructive sleep apnea is best treated by the use of a positive airway pressure device, such as a continuous positive airway pressure device, or CPAP, or a bi-level positive airway pressure device, or bi-level. Some people mistaken refer to all bi-level devices as BiPAP machines, although the word BiPAP is a registered trademark of Respironics, Inc., for a specific line of bi-level devices. The term xPAP is used when speaking of positive airway pressure machines, overall, when one specific type of machine is not being discussed.
Other treatments for apnea exist, though the success rate at eliminating the apneas — especially without surgery — are not close to the almost 100 percent success rate of xPAP devices. They include oral devices, including custom devices made by dentists; surgeries; and an implant that’s been on the market for a few years with mixed comments.
Links of interest
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