Snoring occurs when the airway in the throat is narrowed or blocked and soft tissues such as the soft palate, airway walls, and uvula vibrate.
Snoring is known to cause sleep deprivation for snorers and the people around them. The condition affects both snorers and their roommates. Snoring basically has a disturbing influence on the mental and sexual health of snorers. It can also affect your personal relationship.
In young children, snoring can trigger cognitive and behavioral problems.
Additionally, snoring has long been documented as a risk factor for high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.
Link found between snoring and calorie burning
But a new study, published in Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives, underscores the healthy side of snoring, saying the habit that often interferes with other people can actually burn calories.
The study suggests that people who snore frequently while sleeping may burn more calories than those who rarely snore, according to the Times of India.
“Obesity is an important risk factor for the development of sleep-disordered breathing, and changes in body weight are associated with changes in the severity of sleep-disordered breathing,” the researchers told TOI, citing the researchers.
“It is unclear whether weight gain is simply a cause of sleep-disordered breathing or if sleep-disordered breathing may be associated with disturbances in energy metabolism that, in turn, lead to weight gain and complicate treatment. of these two disorders that often coexist. ”, they added.
study details
To find a link between snoring and calorie burning, Eric J. Kezirian, MD, MPH, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues evaluated resting energy expenditure in 212 adults with signs or symptoms of sleep disorders. sleep-related breathing. including snoring, sleep apnea, and other conditions in which the airways become partially or completely obstructed during sleep.
The research team then reviewed the study participants’ medical history and assigned them a physical exam and polysomnography sleep monitoring. They determined the resting energy expenditure of study subjects using a device known as an indirect calorimeter.
Study Results
After evaluating the data, the researchers found that the more the patients snored, the more calories they burned while resting. Among all study participants, the average resting energy expenditure was 1,763 calories per day. The researchers found that those who snored regularly burned 1,999 calories per day, while those who snored occasionally burned 1,626 calories.
“This study advances our understanding of sleep-disordered breathing and metabolic rates, but does not define the connection between sleep-disordered breathing and body weight,” the authors wrote, according to TOI.
“Body weight is determined by the balance between energy intake and energy expenditure. Although the findings of this study suggest that impaired breathing during sleep increases energy expenditure, it ignored two important aspects of this balance,” they added.
“First, sleep-disordered breathing often results in fatigue and other declines in daytime functioning that can limit physical activity. Second, this paper does not specifically incorporate emerging evidence suggesting that sleep-disordered breathing can alter food intake. energy, either through hormones or other mechanisms.
“Future research looking at the effect of sleep-disordered breathing on body weight may include effects on energy intake and expenditure,” they said.
What is snoring?
Snoring is a harsh, vibrating sound made by breathing during sleep. It is known to cause sleep deprivation for both snorers and listeners, as well as side effects: daytime sleepiness, irritability, poor concentration, decreased libido.
Snoring occurs when the soft palate, uvula, tongue, tonsils, and/or muscles in the back of the throat rub against each other and create a vibrating sound during sleep.
Some simple measures to treat snoring
Heavy snorers can also try some self-help measures, such as losing weight, quitting smoking and avoiding excess alcohol, to combat the condition, according to Medindia.com.
Avoiding too many pillows while sleeping and different sleeping positions, such as lying on your side, can also prevent snorers from snoring.
