Snoring is a life phenomenon closely related to sleep. Many people take it for granted and even think that snoring means a good sleep. In fact, it not only affects the quality of sleep but also poses a great threat to physical health.
Pathological snoring has a very complicated medical name in pathology: obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS), which is a disease that occurs during sleep. Currently, the incidence of this disease is constantly increasing and has become a public health problem worldwide.
Adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome during sleep may experience symptoms such as apnea, hypopnea and hypoxia, preventing the body from getting sufficient rest and recovery. In the long run, it can lead to the occurrence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes. Children who snore may affect their physical development, intelligence and cardiopulmonary function, and develop an "adenoid face".
So, what kind of snoring is okay? What kind of snoring is considered a disease? Today, let's listen to Pang Yufeng, the director of the Department of Otolaryngology at Shanghai Fifth People's Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, explain this matter in a meticulous and detailed way.
What kind of snoring is considered a disease?
Whether it's adults or children, when they visit the hospital due to snoring, doctors' diagnoses often include "OSAHS". What is "OSAHS"?
Originally, "snoring disorder" is just a common name. The real name of this disease is "OSAHS", which stands for "obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome". Translated, it means "Respiratory Disturbance in Sleep Syndrome due to Obstruction".
In short, "OSAHS" refers to the repeated occurrence of apnea and hypopnea during sleep. Here, sleep apnea means that the airflow through the mouth and nose stops or significantly weakens during sleep, lasting for more than 10 seconds. Obstructive sleep apnea mainly refers to the disappearance of airflow through the mouth and nose, but thoracic and abdominal breathing still exists. To put it simply, our body is still performing respiratory movements, but due to the obstruction of the upper respiratory tract such as the mouth, nose, and throat, the airflow through the mouth and nose cannot enter, resulting in apnea. Sometimes, during snoring, there is no complete apnea, but only a decrease in breathing, which is called hypopnea. Clinically, we define hypopnea as a decrease in airflow through the mouth and nose during sleep compared to the baseline level of ≥30%accompanied by a decrease in blood oxygen saturation of ≥4% for ≥10 seconds. In simple terms, when sleeping, the mouth and nose are blocked, and the air cannot be inhaled, causing breathlessness. Further, the body becomes hypoxic.
Typical "OSAHS" can be manifested clinically as snoring, and the snoring sound is loud and irregular. Patients often feel breathless and are even repeatedly awakened by breathlessness. At the same time, they often have symptoms such as increased nocturnal urination, morning headache, dizziness, and dryness in the oropharynx. Repeated apnea and hypopnea at night can cause chronic intermittent hypoxia, accumulation of carbon dioxide in the blood, systemic inflammatory response, and insufficient antioxidant capacity, which in turn leads to various cardiovascular diseases and metabolic diseases such as diabetes.
Furthermore, patients with "OSAHS" suffer from disrupted sleep rhythms at night, experiencing recurrent episodes of apnea and awakening. As a result, they tend to experience mild daytime sleepiness. In severe cases, psychological and behavioral abnormalities may gradually emerge. One can imagine that this condition significantly impacts one's life and work. If such a situation occurs while driving or in some workplaces with high safety requirements, intermittent sleepiness can easily lead to serious consequences. Therefore, it is now clear that "OSAHS" is a systemic disease and is closely related to sudden death and car accidents, among other things.
From this, we can roughly understand what kind of disease "OSAHS" is. It is significantly different from simple snoring. Simple snoring has a relatively small snoring sound and does not involve nocturnal apnea or hypopnea, nor does it cause a series of metabolic diseases and other complications. However, we need to know that simple snoring is not so "innocent" and cannot be "exonerated" without cause. Almost all "OSAHS" patients start with mild snoring. If "OSAHS" is a heinous evil demon, then snoring is its "underling". Therefore, when snoring occurs, we should pay attention to it and not allow it to gradually evolve into the terrifying "OSAHS".