Is snoring a health risk?

Snoring, one of the most prevalent obnoxious human habits, can be a social nuisance and may well be a medical problem. No one who has slept beside a snorer needs any description of what is snoring, or any convincing that a remedy would be very much welcome. Snoring is a sound produced during sleep by vibrations of the soft tissues of the pharyngeal walls, soft palate and the uvula 1. Although snoring is generally thought to be an inspiratory noise, recent studies showed that in chronic heavy snorers, an expiratory noise can be recorded and audible as well 2. It has been suggested that the sounds of snoring are caused by three mechanisms: (1) floppy pharyngeal muscles with poor tone; (2) airflow limitation in the nose; and (3) space-occupying masses in the airway, including enlarged tonsils or tumours 3.4.