Dr. Dagher:
Is snoring common in men?
Yes, it’s more common and more frequent in men than in women. It’s our curse in a way, or actually the curse of the women who put up with it!

What causes snoring?
From the tip of the nose to deep down in the vocal cord area, there are very floppy tissues in some locations. These tissues vibrate, creating the sound of snoring.

Is snoring related to any serious health conditions?
When snoring is accompanied by gasping by air, or stopping of breathing, that is called sleep apnea. It’s caused when muscle mass or fatty tissue in the neck puts weight on the windpipe and narrows it down. Other than snoring, the major symptom is daytime sleepiness.

What can be the long term serious effects of sleep apnea?
That depends on how severe it is, and what kind of job you do. The main danger is sleepiness. If you drive or run a fork lift, you’re going to be dangerous to yourself or others. If you like to sit on couch and watch a football game, it probably won’t affect your daily living activity much at all.
You also have a higher risk of stroke or heart attack in the long run. The younger you are, the more chance you have to develop problems.

Does anything increase my risk for sleep apnea?
The older you are and the heavier you are, the more chance you’ll have it. But I have young, skinny patients who have sleep apnea, and heavy ones who don’t.

Why might a sleep study be recommended?
A sleep study will help us identify the problem and quantify it for the patient.

How is sleep apnea treated?
Up to 99 percent of sleep apnea patients can be helped with a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), which is a very weak air pump with a mask worn over the nose or nose and mouth to keep airways open. It’s the only treatment under the sky that has no side effect, and can potentially prevent you from crashing your car, getting fired from your job, or dying from a stroke and heart attack. Aspirin, on the other hand, has about 60 possible side effects.

Is a CPAP hard to get used to?
The hardest thing to get used to is the face mask and head gear. Unfortunately, there is no science in this part of the medicine – just hit and miss. Patients have to find the type of mask that they are comfortable with, and there are about 40 different types of masks. Sometimes they hit it on No. 1, sometimes on No. 40.

Scott:
Why did you get a sleep study?
My wife was telling me I was snoring quite a bit, and pretty restless at night. I was tired during the day, too.

What did you find out?
The study found that my breathing was stopping about 15 times an hour.

How well does the CPAP work for you?
Really well. It was hard to get used to at first – it took a good three or four weeks. The mask I have now is a lot more comfortable than the one I started with. It doesn’t bother me at all now. Most nights, I sleep pretty decent, although I still have my days when I feel tired.

Dr. Dagher:
Are there other options to treat sleep apnea?
Some patients opt for surgery, but surgery is a 50/50 shot, and sleep apnea usually comes back. We typically recommend surgery in severe cases.

Is there anything I can do to keep from snoring?
The CPAP is one cure, even if you don’t have sleep apnea. There are different surgical approaches, which are most often considered plastic surgery, so it’s out-of-pocket. Nasal strips might work if the vibrating tissue is in that area as opposed to further down in the throat. And then there’s always your wife’s elbow.

With Dr. H. Nicolas Dagher, pulmonologist and sleep specialist with Avera Pulmonary Associates in Sioux Falls, and Scott Ward of Sioux Falls, who was diagnosed with sleep apnea at age 36.