Table of contents:
- What happens when we snore?
- Why do you get older the more you snore?
- The older you get, the more often you snore during sleep, perhaps a sign of sleep apnea
There is no denying that the snoring sound is annoying. Not only disturbing the sleep of the people around you, but also yourself. The sweet sound of snoring coming out of your throat can wake you up in the middle of the night. Interestingly, the more you get older the more often you snore. How come?
What happens when we snore?
Snoring is caused by a narrowing of your throat when you sleep, so that you can't let air out freely through your throat and nose. In addition, the position of your tongue during sleep can also block the passage of air in and out during sleep. This causes the tissue around the respiratory tract to vibrate, resulting in a loud, annoying snoring sound.
Anyone at any age can snore. However, the older you get, the more often you snore.
Why do you get older the more you snore?
One of the reasons is the weight gain as you get older. This weight gain pattern then focuses on the accumulation of fat around the neck, making the throat space narrower, according to Pelayo, a specialist at the Stanford Sleep Medicine Center.
In addition, the body's muscle mass will decrease and loosen with age. Ultimately, it also affects the muscles in the respiratory tract. The sagging airway muscles are more prone to vibrate when air is flowing from the lungs.
The use of drugs that are increasingly diverse and frequent over time is also one of the reasons why you are getting older so you snore more frequently. The reason is, certain drugs can have a dry effect on the respiratory tract, also make the throat muscles relax so that the airways become narrower.
The older you get, the more often you snore during sleep, perhaps a sign of sleep apnea
In some cases, snoring is normal, although it can also be caused by dangerous diseases. One of them is sleep apnea, which is common in middle-aged and elderly people (50 years and over). Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder caused by a blockage in the respiratory tract.
The main symptom of sleep apnea is a very loud snoring sound during the night's sleep which often wakes you up in the middle of the night. Going back and forth between midnight and drooling sleep can also be some of the hallmarks of sleep apnea.
Here are other symptoms you should be aware of besides snoring:
- More daytime sleepiness than usual
- Headache in the morning
- Woke up in the morning but felt like I haven't rested yet
- Mouth feels dry
- Stop breathing while sleeping.
So, if other symptoms arise in addition to the habit of snoring, you need to be careful and consult a doctor.
