Sleeping Angels

How children's sleep affects their health and well being.

Dennis Rosen, M.D. is a pediatric sleep specialist who practices at Children's Hospital Boston. See full bio

June 20, 2009, Sleep

Why snoring can be hazardous to your health

Snoring can be a sign of a serious medical condition

Lots of people snore. About 25% of all adults, and 12% of children snore on a regular basis, and people's responses to it range from annoyance (husbands being banished to the "snore room" so that the wife can get a decent night's sleep), pride ("my two year old snores just like his grandfather") to making it the butt of jokes.

However, in many cases, snoring can be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea, a serious medical condition in which the throat collapses during sleep, preventing breathing. When this happens repeatedly across the night, the consequences can be very significant:

1. Hypertension (high blood pressure)
2. Increased incidence of heart disease
3. Increased incidence of stroke
4. Obesity
5. Daytime sleepiness
6. Increased (x 6) risk of traffic accidents
7. Symptoms of depression

In children, there are additional complications, including:

8. Decreased school performance
9. Developmental delay
10. Behavioral changes (attention deficit disorder)

So what should one do if a loved one snores regularly, especially in association with gasping, choking, pauses in breathing? Have that person see their physician, and discuss getting a sleep study to diagnose and then treat the apnea, if it is present.

Ignorance may be bliss, but ignoring serious medical problems doesn't make them go away, and only perpetuates them and their consequences.