Can You Die From Snoring?

Snoring is often dismissed as a nuisance, but what people don’t realize is that it can lead to serious health problems, which can eventually lead to death.

Can you die from snoring? The snoring itself will not kill you, especially not through suffocation. The human brain is equipped with the ability to rouse you from sleep the moment it detects that you have low blood oxygen levels, which is the result of not being able to breathe properly while sleeping. Snoring does lead to serious health conditions like heart failure, however, which can trigger death.

Sure, snoring does not cause death directly. But knowing how much impact snoring can have on your health, it is still important to take it as a serious health issue. The mere fact that snoring is the main symptom of sleep apnea makes it even more urgent to find ways to get rid of the habit.

As you read further, you’ll see why it’s not possible to die directly from snoring. You will also see other health risks associated with snoring.

Why Can’t You Die From Snoring?

Snoring is not just characterized by the sound that you make when you sleep. People who snore also often experience pauses in breathing, sometimes lasting for as long as a few minutes.

When our breathing stops, our blood oxygen level also drops.

When the brain sees that the blood oxygen level is dangerously low and that the carbon dioxide levels are increasing, it sends a burst of cortisol though the body.

Cortisol is a hormone that helps regulate your metabolism, your immune responses, and your response to stress.

Through the cortisol hormone, your stress response kicks in. This causes your heart rate to spike, waking you up in the process. Although you may not remember waking up, your roommate may see you taking a sudden gasp for air when this happens.

Although you cannot die directly from your snoring, it does lead to a number of serious health risks that may trigger early death.

What are the Serious Risks of Snoring?

Snoring is so much more than just a bad sleeping habit. It affects the body’s major organs and functions, and can lead to a number of health risks.

Snoring is also the main symptom of sleep apnea, which is considered as a serious sleeping disorder. Sleep apnea is known to lead to different health complications. However, snoring, on its own, can already bring about its own sets of health complications as well.

Arrhythmia

Arrhythmia is characterized by an irregular heart rhythm. It can either be too slow (bradycardia) or too fast (tachycardia).

The frequent pauses in breathing when you snore and the immediate jolt that comes when your brain tries to wake you up also causes your heart rhythm to go from slow to fast a few times each night.

When your arrhythmia becomes severe, it would lead to your heart not being able to send enough blood to your body. This could make you feel tired and lightheaded during the day. You may even end up passing out. At times, it can also cause death, especially when there are other health conditions contributing to it.

Heart Disease

Seeing that your heart is forced to work double time a few times each night, it isn’t hard to imagine what kind of stress it goes through. The frequent spikes in your heart rate causes your blood pressure to rise, which also leads to coronary artery disease.

Over time, this increases the risk of a heart attack. In fact, people with sleep apnea are proven to be twice as likely to have non-fatal heart disease as well as fatal heart attacks. And snoring is the most basic symptom (or could also be a result) of sleep apnea.

Stroke

Studies show that the worse your snoring is, the higher the risk of carotid atherosclerosis, a condition that leads to a stroke.

Carotid atherosclerosis is characterized by narrowed arteries in the neck because of increased plaque. Plaques are excess deposits of cholesterol, calcium, and other debris. When this happens, it becomes tougher to deliver nutrients and oxygen to the brain. This then results to a stroke, both nonfatal and fatal ones.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

Because people who snore have abnormal breathing patterns, their throats tend to open and close in a disordered manner. This can result to a suction effect, forcing the contents of their stomach to come back up to the esophagus instead of remaining in the stomach.

What are the effects of GERD?

GERD can cause difficulty in swallowing, vomiting, and bleeding. If left untreated over a long period of time, it can lead to esophagitis, esophageal cancer, and a number of other health conditions relating to the esophagus.

Headaches

Heavy snorers often wake up with really bad headaches. This is probably because of the frequent rousing from sleep, which means that no matter how many hours you’re in bed, the quality of sleep isn’t as good.

In effect, people with headaches are also left unproductive throughout the day. Their headaches could also affect the way they relate with other people, especially since these headaches don’t always go away right after waking up.

Mental Health Issues

Sleep is an important part of our well-being not only physically, but mentally as well. The less sleep we have, the more prone we are to different mental health issues. And because snoring causes people to have low-quality sleep, issues with mental health among people who snore is not surprising.

Lack of sleep can cause serious mood swings that often start with extreme irritability. The lack of focus and challenges in paying attention can also cause low productivity, which can bring about frustration.

Over time, these initial mental health challenges will get more serious. It can eventually progress to anxiety and depression.

Accidents and Injuries

Those who snore are often drowsy during the daytime. This results to lack of focus, which increases the likelihood of accidents and injuries.

Especially if the habitual snorer is behind the wheel, the risk of a car accident is higher. In fact, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that drowsy driving causes up to 100,000 accidents every year. Over 1,500 of these result to death, while over 70,000 have resulted to injuries, both minor and serious.

Because of these numbers, both the US and the UK have clear driving laws for those who are diagnosed with sleep apnea. It is important to prove that you are going through proper treatment for your sleeping disorder before you are allowed to drive. The rules are even stricter if you drive a huge trailer or are employed as a driver.