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We spend a significant portion of our lives sleeping, and the quality of our sleep influences our daytime activity. Sleep is supposed to be a time of calm and rest, but it can sometimes be extremely noisy and restless. Rest is sometimes accompanied by noise of varying intensity: snoring ! Besides disrupting a partner's sleep and causing relationship problems, snoring can signal the beginnings of a more serious disorder such as sleep apnea , or, when significant, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
This is then a real disease and there is an evolutionary continuity between simple snoring and the development of apneas.
Definition of snoring and sleep apnea
Snoring is the emission of a nocturnal noise by vibration of the upper airways and affects approximately 10 million French people.
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is the occurrence of respiratory pauses (apneas) or a decrease in nocturnal respiratory airflow (hypopnea) resulting in a decrease in blood oxygen (desaturations) repeatedly (5 episodes per hour).
There is a continuum of development between a simple snorer and a snorer with sleep-disordered breathing; this development is insidious and gradual. It is estimated that 10 to 20% of patients are likely to develop sleep disorders with age.
