Adult Snoring

We speculate that these factors may enhance inflammatory processes and thereby alter upper airway anatomy early in life causing an increased susceptibility for adult snoring. Among the overweight, early hospitalization for respiratory infection was associated with adult snoring with an OR 67; 95% CI 2620, while among subjects with normal weight the OR was 82; 95% CI 552 This difference in associations of childhood respiratory infections with adult shoring according to BMI was highly significant . The associations of childhood factors with adult snoring when adjusting for potential confounding factors are presented in table 4 4 4

The present study showed that early life environment may be of importance for snoring later in life. To our knowledge there are no studies investigating whether the susceptibility to adult snoring and sleep apnea could be partly determined by early life environment. The predisposition for adult snoring and possibly also for obstructive sleep apnea may be partly established early in life.

Being hospitalized for a respiratory infection before the age of two years, having had recurrent otitis in childhood, having been exposed to a dog as a newborn, having grown up in a large family were associated with habitual snoring later in life.

Mandibular retrognathia and narrowing of the lateral pharyngeal area reduce the upper airway size, with snoring and sleep apnea as a result in adults.

In snoring, however, the airway is only partially blocked, creating a vibrating sound when the air passes through the throat.

Having had severe airway infections or recurrent otitis in childhood, being exposed to a dog as a newborn and growing up in a large family are environmental factors associated with snoring in adulthood.

In the present paper we aimed to investigate whether environmental factors in childhood are associated with snoring later in life.

Hu FB, Willett WC, Manson JE, Colditz GA, Rimm EB, Speizer FE, Hennekens CH, Stampfer MJ: Snoring and risk of cardiovascular disease in women.

Interactions by gender and BMI were tested for early life factors significantly associated with snoring in the adjusted model. A questionnaire including snoring frequency in adulthood and environmental factors in early life was obtained from 16,190 randomly selected men and women, aged 2554 years, in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Estonia . To our knowledge, no studies of the possible association of early life environment with snoring in adulthood have been published. Our results indicate an association between early life environment and snoring later in life. We aimed to investigate whether early life environment is associated with snoring later in life. Subjective reports are, however, the most commonly used instrument for measuring snoring, in part because of the technical problems involved with microphone recordings as well as the ability of subjective reports to give an average of the subject’s degree of snoring, whereas the result of a single night’s recording may be misleading.

The adjusted population attributable fraction for snoring of having been exposed to a dog when newborn was 4% while the corresponding figures were 5% for otitis, 4% for growing up in family of more than 5 persons and 7% for being hospitalized for a respiratory disease before the age of Franklin KA, Gislason T, Omenaas E, Jogi R, Jensen EJ, Lindberg E, Gunnbjornsdottir M, Nystrom L, Laerum BN, Bjornsson E, Toren K, Janson C: The influence of active and passive smoking on habitual snoring. Habitual snoring, defined as loud and disturbing snoring at least 3 nights a week, was reported by 18%.

Studies on growing monkeys has also shown that induced oral respiration leads to a lowering of the chin, a steeper mandibular plane angle, and an increase in gonial angle as compared with control animals.

Svanes C, Jarvis D, Chinn S, Omenaas E, Gulsvik A, Burney P: Early exposure to children in family and day care as related to adult asthma and hay fever: results from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.

Additional source: Respiratory Research Source reference: Franklin K, et al “Early life environment and snoring in adulthood” Respir Res 2008; 9: 6

Overall, 2,851 respondents reported habitually snoring at least three nights a week.

Except for household size, those factors were also significantly associated with a combination of habitual snoring and daytime sleepiness - defined as feeling tired during the daytime at least one to two days a week.

Previous studies had cited heavy snoring as a warning sign for early death, heart disease and stroke, indicating that the condition may lead to additional sleep deprivation problems.