Even when it is not fatal, Sleep Apnea deprives the body of essential oxygen; and hence, overall blood oxygen levels are reduced and concurrently, carbon dioxide levels rise.  This can lead to toxic buildup that can cause heart disease, stroke, and brain damage.

Snoring: The Emotional Problems

Readers who themselves aren’t snorers, but have lived with (or currently live with) a first class snorer, might find themselves shedding a tear or two as they read this section.  That’s because often overlooked in the whole snoring discussion are those people who don’t snore. 

These are the husbands, the wives, the kids, the nanny’s, the siblings, the in-laws, and even the neighbors who have found themselves on the receiving end of a chain saw, or a lawn mower, that tended to start at around 10:00pm, and continued – unabated! – Until about 7:00am the following morning. 

For such people, trying to fall and stay asleep was not merely an exercise in stress coping; it was an exercise in crisis management!

It’s not at all overly dramatic to suggest that the emotional costs of snoring are as severe, or possibly even more severe, as snoring’s physical toll.  This is because snoring can lead a disturbing array of emotional problems, including:

§         lack of sleep, leading to depression and anxiety

§         Marital breakdown and divorce, due to lack of sleep and lack of empathy (remember, the snoring partner doesn’t often know the pain that they are unwittingly causing!)

§         Eviction by a landlord and the resulting humiliation (this may sound funny, but some people have literally been kicked out of their homes because of their snoring!)