Improved nasal breathing during sleep gives better quality of life in snoring men. The association between diminished nasal resistance, snoring, well-being and hormone secretion in snoring middle-aged men

Abstract

It is common in society for people to have problems with snoring and this is often associated with daytime tiredness in snorers. The aims of this thesis were to estimate how improved nasal air flow during the night, using a nostril dilator, influences the snoring noise, partners' sleep, morning tiredness, well-being, mental energy and hormone secretion in snoring men.Forty-two snoring middle-aged men were studied before and after one and six months' use of the Nozovent nostril dilator at night. There was a significant decrease in the snoring noise rated by the female sleeping partner and about one-third of the men felt less tired in the morning. The spouseís own quality of sleep and well-being in the morning increased significantly when the nasal air flow of their male partners was increased. The quality of life measured by the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and the Psychological General Well-Being index (PGWB) was significantly lower in the snorers than in a population sample. When the snorers' NHP score was compared with that of patients who had other chronic medical diseases, it was shown that the snorers had just as poor quality of life as these patients. When assessing problems in daily life activities such as family life, sex life, housework, hobbies and holidays, the snorers gave affirmative responses of between 21 and 48%, a significant contrast to the population, who gave between 5 and 10%.The snorers who experienced less morning tiredness, when the air flow resistance in the nose was diminished over a period of one month, displayed a significant increase in the secretion of growth factor IGF-1. The increased IGF-1 value reflects increased nocturnal growth hormone secretion, indicating more deep sleep. The snoring did not impact on other pituitary-related hormones.When the sections on mental energy in the NHP and PGWB were correlated during the study with a Visual Analogue Scale (drowsy/alert), there was a good correlation. A VAS drowsy index is recommended in clinical work for measuring daytime tiredness before and after medical treatment.