Why you need to take dat snoring seriously

"I bin dey joke wit family and friends about my husband loud snoring, but deep down, e bin seriously dey worry me," Arunika Selvam wey be 45-year-old married woman from Singapore, tok.

"I bin dey say if I tok wit my husband about am, im go dey offended."

She bin tink say snoring na part of package wey dey come wit marriage. But e bin dey seriously affect her husband and di relationship.

"Im begin wake up plenty times for night and become grumpy for mornings," she tell BBC.

Her husband snoring also stop her from sleeping well for night, and her performance for work dey suffer sake of she no sleep well.

E dey very common to ignore bed companion wey dey snore, but health and relationship experts dey draw ear give pipo say, dis fit to seriously affect dia relationship and health and dat of dia partner.

Wetin be sleep apnoea?

Loud snoring mostly get link wit one sleep disorder wey dem dey call Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA).

Dis na condition wia breathing dey stop and start repeatedly during sleep, sabi pipo tok.

Di disorder dey cause di walls of di throat to relax, come narrow.

Wen e happun like dis, e go interrupt normal breathing and result in oxygen desaturation.

According to Dr Ramamurthy Sathyamurthy, wey be consultant respiratory physician for UK James Cook University Hospital, sleep apnoea get orishirishi symptoms, wey dey from mild to moderate or serious, but typically dey get progressively worse.

Im warn say di untreated condition fit to affect many aspects of both di snorer and dia partners physical and mental health, including dia sex drive.

Wetin be di symptoms of sleep apnoea?

Symptoms dey mainly occur wen you sleep, and include:

During di daytime, sufferers also get:

Oda health issues

Additionally, obstructive sleep apnoea dey cause oda health issues too.

Di sudden drop of blood oxygen levels wey dey happun during apnoea fit increase blood pressure, experts warn, and dis fit increase di risk of oda associated medical issues.

Some studies suggest say, OSA fit increase risk of heart failure by 140%, di risk of stroke by 60%, and di risk of coronary heart disease by 30%.

While some couples fit dey laff about dia partner snoring, e fit be serious mata for dia relationship, Dr Sathyamurthy emphasise.

"Usually, 90% of di patients wey I dey see, dem initiate di referral becos di partner dey greatly affected," im tell BBC.

E fit make partners to begin sleep for different rooms, sometin wey dem call 'sleep divorce'.

Dis one no be necessarily bad tin - US-based relationship therapist Sara Nasserzadeh dey sometimes recommend make couples sleep separately, wit or without snoring.

Beginning di day wit good night sleep fit promote healthier relationship for both partners, she tell BBC, although of course, dis only dey possible if extra bedroom dey available.

But for some couples, 'sleep divorce' fit be di first step on di way to more permanent separation.

Bringing up di topic

Even though Arunika Selvam dey live for Singapore wey be highly developed kontri wit one of di highest GDPs per capita for world - finding anoda bed for di house no possible for her.

"We rent out our guest room to make extra income due to di high cost of living here for Singapore," di mama of one pikin, wey don marry for 15 years, explain.

However, afta enduring countless sleepless nights, Selvam tok to her husband about im snoring problem.

Im bin no wan consult doctor as both im papa and grandpapa bin snore and im believe say e dey perfectly normal.

Pipo dey mostly see loud snoring in men as part of masculinity or wetin make dem man, particularly for some Asian cultures, Selvam add.

Sara Nasserzadeh say for dat kain situation, e dey important to find di right time to raise dis issue wit your partner in a "gentle and delicate way".

"Maybe, afta having sex, maybe as una dey for good mood and dey connected," Nasserzadeh, di author of Love by Design - 6 Ingredients to Build a Lifetime of Love, add.

Di expert in social psychology say e also important to remember say di pesin wey dey snore dey usually feel embarassed about di condition.

Serious consequences

According to British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association, about 15 million snorers dey UK, and e dey affect 30 million pipo for di kontri - almost half of di population.

Figures from one recent survey show say di number of men wey dey snore dey much higher dan women, di association tok.

But regardless of who be di snorer, di habit fit get serious consequences.

Some reports suggest say snoring dey among di most common causes for divorce for United States and UK, although e hard to find concrete evidence to support di claim.

Rita Gupta, na family lawyer from UK, she say her company don encounter plenty divorce cases wey dey linked to snoring.

"E dey definitely come up a lot as a reason for unhappiness in di marriage," she tell BBC.

"I don hear many pipo say, 'Well, we don dey sleep for separate rooms for several years becos of im snoring anyway, and we kuku drift apart,'" she add.

Di family lawyer say di common issue for divorce cases na neglecting medical treatments and not taking necessary steps to deal wit di issue effectively, indicating underlying commitment issues.

"For example, for dis case against one man, im wife dey say, 'E dey already snore badly. E dey really affect my sleep. E never do anytin to address am.'"

Wetin you fit do about snoring or sleep apnoea?

Treatments for sleep apnoea fit involve lifestyle changes like:

However, for many pipo, di use of one device wey dem dey call CPAP (Continuous positive airway pressure) machine dey necessary.

E dey softly deliver air into one mask wey you go wear over your mouth or nose as you sleep.

Dr Ramamurthy Sathyamurthy say e dey important to prioritise both di health of di partner and di snorer, encouraging dem to go for medical advice.

"E go dey beneficial not only for di relationship but also economically, as pipo go spend less money on medicines for oda health issues wey di condition dey cause. Diafore, na overall benefit for di whole family," im add.