Do you want to know a confession? I snore sometimes during sleep. It was terribly embarrassing to have my husband tell it to me, but my dad’s side of the family has short and horrible sinuses hence the rhinitis and sinusitis problems.

My dad snores too, loudly and a lot. He has been that way ever since I can remember because he smoked since he was 16 until 2 years ago, has emphysema, COPD, right sided congestive heart failure and obstructive sleep apnea. He has been apneic about ten years ago and what is actually scary is that when you suffer from it, you literally stop breathing for seconds, even minutes! You can die in your sleep. The condition is most common in men, individuals who are overweight, or snorers, and the older you are, the greater your chances of becoming affected by sleep apnea.

Symptoms can often go unnoticed for a long time because they are not specific during the day, and at night, the sleeper may not even realize that he or she is waking up to resume breathing.

Conventional therapy is the use of a device providing Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), which is applied through a mask. This use of continuous pressure, when titrated properly, eliminates obstructive breathing events, including snoring. CPAP machines which basically prevent snorers (more precise: Obstructive Sleep Apnea sufferers) from dying or getting brain damage due to a lack of oxygen.

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