Snoring

SNORING, a characteristic noise of greater or lesser intensity, which accompanies the respiratory movements of a sleeping person with an open mouth. It arises due to vibrations of the soft palate, caused by the stream of passing air, and in some cases also due to vibrations of the relaxed vocal cords. It occurs most easily and frequently during deep sleep on the back, when conditions are created for complete relaxation of the soft palate, which vibrates easily during breathing. Under pathological conditions, snoring breathing occurs in cases of paralysis of the soft palate, for example after diphtheria, in cerebral hemorrhages, and in injuries with compression of the brain. In the latter case, with cyanosis and unconscious state, snoring may serve as a poor prognostic sign. Snoring reaches particularly high degrees in large tumors of the nasopharynx, for example in nasopharyngeal fibromas, when nasal breathing is completely excluded.