Snoring and Sleep Apnea

Is your nighttime breathing louder than a vacuum cleaner—or maybe even a leaf blower? Has your bed partner invested in a pair of noise-cancelling headphone to use while sleeping? If so, rest assured you’re not alone. Nearly everyone snores at least occasionally, and habitual snoring is also quite common. About 44% of men and 28% of women ages 30 to 60 snore on a regular basis.

Snoring occurs when air can’t move freely through the passageway at the back of the nose and mouth, usually due to loose, floppy tissue in the tongue or throat. As a result, the surrounding tissue vibrates with each breath, creating noise.

In general, snoring by itself does not appear to be harmful to your health. But loud snoring can disrupt a partner’s sleep, potentially triggering relationship problems. And high-volume snoring punctuated by brief pauses in breathing is the hallmark of obstructive sleep apnea.

In sleep apnea, the airway becomes completely or almost completely blocked for brief periods, causing the person to stop breathing for at least 10 seconds—sometimes hundreds of times a night. This serious condition, which affects an estimated 25% of men and 10% of women, is closely linked to several health problems, but especially heart and blood vessel disease.

This Harvard Medical School guide explains the physical traits and lifestyle habits that contribute to both snoring and sleep apnea. It describes simple things you can do to prevent snoring and offers advice on devices and procedures that may help treat stubborn cases. You’ll also learn whether you should be checked for sleep apnea—and what that testing entails. In addition, you'll receive details and advice about using positive airway pressure (PAP), the gold standard treatment for sleep apnea, as well as several other therapies.

Prepared by the editors of Harvard Health Publishing in consultation with Sogol Javaheri, M.D., Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Sleep Specialist, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. (2023)

About Harvard Medical School Guides

Harvard Medical School Guides deliver compact, practical information on important health concerns. These publications are smaller in scope than our Special Health Reports, but they are written in the same clear, easy-to-understand language, and they provide the authoritative health advice you expect from Harvard Health Publishing.

In people with simple snoring, the airway remains open. Sleep apnea is a different story: people temporarily stop breathing many times a night. In people with the most common kind, obstructive sleep apnea, the soft tissue of the palate or pharynx completely closes off the airway. The brain, sensing a drop in oxygen, sends an emergency “Breathe now!” signal that briefly awakens the sleeper and makes him or her gasp for air. A far less common form of this problem is known as central sleep apnea.

How do you know if your snoring is a sign of sleep apnea? In addition to loud, persistent snoring, people usually have pauses in breathing accompanied by gasps and choking noises. Often, people don’t notice these symptoms themselves, but only learn about them from a bed partner or family member.Another telltale sign that should prompt a visit to your doctor is nodding off during the day—a direct result of not getting enough high-quality sleep at night.

Other symptoms that may be caused by sleep apnea include the following:

• nighttime restlessness
• trouble sleeping, with frequent awakenings
• difficulty with concentrating or thinking
• memory problems
• mood changes
• morning headaches
• vivid, strange, or threatening dreams
• nighttime waking to urinate.

Although daytime sleepiness is common with sleep apnea, some people are so used to sleep deprivation that they don’t realize they’re sleepy. Instead, they may see themselves as lazy, lethargic, or not very motivated. Or they may not think it is unusual to fall asleep at a movie or while sitting at dinner with friends. The less appropriate the circumstances (such as waiting in traffic while driving, or during a conversation), the more dangerously sleepy you’re considered to be. In fact, excessive daytime sleepiness can be one of the deadliest complications related to sleep apnea.

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