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| World Home » Health & Fitness » | Fri. May 16, 2008 |
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Study links frequent snoring with chronic bronchitis MIL/TMT, Jan 29, 2008. Poonam Wadhwani January 29, 2008 - A new study by South Korean scientists has found that people who snore frequently are at greater risk of developing chronic bronchitis, an inflammation of the air passages between the nose and the lungs that usually causes by inhaling bronchial irritants, especially cigarette smoke. According to the Money Times, the scientists from the Korea University Ansan Hospital concluded in their research that people who snore six or seven times a week are 68 percent more likely to develop chronic bronchitis than those who never snore. And, incidence of chronic bronchitis is 25 percent greater for people who snore fewer than six times a week compared to those who never snore. "It has been suggested that structural or functional changes in the airway due to inflammation may cause snoring and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome," said Dr Inkyung Baik, of the Korea University Ansan Hospital, who is the lead researcher of the Korean study that published Monday by the Archives of Internal Medicine. "Conversely, repeated snoring vibrations may act as mechanical stresses, leading to increased inflammatory response in the upper airway," he continued. To reach their findings, Dr Baik and colleagues studied 4,270 people, of which 52% were men and 48% were women, aged between 40 and 69. The scientists first noted the number of nights per week that the study participants snore. They also took the details of participants’ family history of disease, lifestyle factors such as whether they smoked. The subjects were observed every two years between 2001 and 2006. Of the group, 314 individuals developed the chronic bronchitis throughout the follow-up years. The Korean researchers assert that their findings provide support for the hypothesis that snoring is associated with chronic bronchitis. Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (medium-size airways) in the lungs. Acute bronchitis is often caused by a viral infection, but can also be caused by a bacterial infection and can heal without complications. An expectorating cough, shortness of breath and wheezing are some of the major symptoms of Bronchitis. Chest pains, fever, and fatigue or malaise may also occur in some cases. Anyone can get acute bronchitis, but infants, young children, and the elderly are more likely to get the disease due to their weaker immune systems. People who smoke and suffer with heart or other lung diseases are also at higher risk of developing acute bronchitis. In addition, anyone exposed to chemical fumes or high levels of air pollution also have a greater chance of developing acute bronchitis.
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