Is snoring dangerous or just annoying?
Plain snoring, noisy but steady breathing, is mostly a nuisance. The dangerous version is snoring with pauses: silence, then a gasp or snort as breathing restarts. That pattern is obstructive sleep apnea, and it strains the heart, raises blood pressure and wrecks daytime alertness.
Clues you cannot hear yourself: waking unrefreshed, morning headaches, dozing in meetings or at traffic lights, and a bed partner's testimony.
A two minute screening quiz sorts the risk, and home sleep studies have made diagnosis easy. Treated apnea transforms people; untreated, it quietly shortens lives.
Source: NHS, sleep apnea
See a doctor promptly if
- Falling asleep while driving, or any near-miss caused by sleepiness. Stop driving and seek medical advice
- Witnessed pauses in breathing, or waking choking or gasping
- Sleep apnea symptoms with blood pressure that stays high despite treatment, or with an irregular heartbeat
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Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
Before you buy anything for sleep
No gadget fixes sleep apnea. But if your score above suggests a sleep study, a simple pulse oximeter can give your doctor useful overnight numbers for under $30.
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