Chronic snoring can also be a sign of obstructive sleep apnoea, which is tied to an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and depression.
Three sleep experts reveal the basic mistakes we’re making, and share their tips for a peaceful night’s rest.
Like many people, I’ve spent the summer going away on weekend breaks with friends. To save money, we’ve shared rooms, just like we did as 20-somethings. But there’s no point in being coy at 55-plus. There will almost certainly be snoring.
So when a roommate starts pouring the red wine at 11pm, I feel honour-bound to mention that it will have an impact on our sleep (however effective my nasal dilator).
Snoring is seen as a comical thing that couples bicker over. But chronic snoring can also be a sign of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), which is tied to an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and depression.
Since four in every 10 people in the UK snore, we consulted Dr Lucia Pinilla, the lead author of a new sleep study from the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute in Adelaide, Australia, and two other sleep experts to discover the basic mistakes we’re all making – and how to fix them.
The timing of sleep is as important as the duration. Pinilla’s study found sleeping an extra 45 minutes or more on weekends increased the risk of worse sleep apnoea by 47%. REM sleep – the deep sleep that people may get more of at weekends – can worsen apnoea because throat muscles can become “essentially paralysed”. “Our bodies like routine, and they do best when there’s a routine of when we go to bed,” says Dr Andy Whittamore, the clinical lead at Asthma + Lung UK.
“Sleeping on your back allows gravity to pull the tongue and soft palate backwards, blocking the airway,” says Alison Francis, a sleep coach.
Pinilla adds: “When we sleep in the supine position [lying flat on your back with your face and torso pointing upward], the weight of your mouth, muscles, skeleton, puts pressure on your throat, making it prone to collapse.”
“A late or heavy meal can make our sleep lighter, because our body is using its energy to digest the food instead of focusing on the processes that need to take place when we sleep,” Pinilla explains. Eating a late dinner, particularly one high in fat, can lead to an increased risk of acid reflux, which in turn inflames the throat. A full stomach can also put pressure on the diaphragm and chest when you lie down.
One study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, which analysed 296 people, found that eating late meals is associated with worse sleep apnoea and sleep quality, concluding that obesity and the timing of meals can increase OSA severity.
The way most sleeping tablets work is to slow down the nervous system, leading to sedation and drowsiness, which in turn can lead to muscle relaxation. “If the muscles are relaxed in the airway, this can lead to increased airway obstruction and reduced breathing during sleep, resulting in snoring and sleep apnoea,” Whittamore says. Instead, try natural remedies such as melatonin or magnesium.
The ideal temperature for sleep is between 18-20 degrees Celsius. High ambient temperatures are associated with reduced sleep duration and quality. It can make us sleep more lightly, but also worsen the symptoms of sleep apnoea and make us wake up continually. Globally, higher temperatures are associated with a 45% higher probability of having OSA on a given night, according to 2025 research published by Pinilla and colleagues in Nature Communications.
Antihistamines taken for hay fever and allergies can make us drowsy and relax the throat muscles, potentially leading to more frequent or severe breathing pauses during sleep.
“Generally, there are two types of antihistamines. The sedating ones can make people drowsy, and those would increase the risk of having sleep apnoea and snoring. And then there are the non-drowsy versions – cetirizine, loratadine and fexofenadine – which are less likely to be a problem,” says Whittamore.
If your sleep apnoea is related to allergies, your GP may recommend nasal corticosteroids or other allergy medications that don’t have the same negative impact on sleep.
Weight gain around the neck (greater than 40.6cm) impacts snoring. This is usually an issue for men and helps explain why more men snore than women, at a ratio of 2:1.
“Snoring and apnoea is connected to obesity, where there is congestion and stagnation physically obstructing the airways,” says Francis. “The excess fatty tissue around the neck physically narrows and compresses the airway.” It’s estimated a 10% loss of bodyweight can lead to as much as a 50% reduction in the degree of sleep apnoea.
Alcohol relaxes throat muscles, making the airway collapse more easily. Drinking also makes it harder for your brain to wake you when breathing stops, so apnoea events last longer.
“We know it disrupts your sleep architecture, so you’re not cycling through the stages in the way you should,” warns Dr Swapna Mandal, a consultant respiratory, sleep and ventilation physician at the Cleveland Clinic London.
“We know smoking cigarettes has an impact on your upper airway. It causes inflammation and makes snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea more likely,” Mandal says. “There is also some data showing vaping can be detrimental to your lung health and may also affect your upper airway.”
“There is a link between stress and snoring,” explains Francis. “Stress activates the ‘fight or flight’ response, which leads to shallow, clavicular [upper chest] breathing and chronic tension in the neck, jaw and throat, so when you finally fall asleep, the tension can create a rigid, narrowed airway.”
“Lie-ins or sleeping late at weekends disrupt the circadian rhythm and you end up jet-lagged on Monday,” says Francis. “A 30-minute nap in the afternoon will help with tiredness, reduce stress and give you the energy you need to sleep well.”
One of the treatments for sleep apnoea is positional therapy: training people to sleep on their side instead of their back. “Sleeping on your side can reduce the risk of sleep apnoea by relieving pressure on the throat, says Pinilla.
Mandibular advancement devices (or a “sleep mouthguard”) move the lower jaw forward during sleep, keeping the airways in the throat open. The latest discovery is a lightweight chin strap by Zeus Sleep that targets the hypoglossal nerve (the nerve involved in controlling tongue movements) through gentle electrical pulses. This stimulates tongue muscles under the chin to open the airway, the root cause of throat snoring.
Training the muscles around our throat so they don’t collapse as easily is another area of research. Conch blowing, also known as shankh blowing, is an ancient ritual that involves breathing in deeply and exhaling into the spiral-shaped shell. The practice could improve sleep for patients with OSA, according to a new study which found those who practised shankh blowing had higher blood oxygen levels during the night, and four to five fewer OSA episodes an hour on average.
Personally, I’ve worn Mute nasal dilators for a decade. The discreet internal nasal dilator is placed in the nostrils to prop open nasal passages for better airflow and improved breathing (the manufacturer claims one clinical trial showed airflow increased by an average of 38%).
“Some people find things that open up the airways of the nose are particularly good,” says Whittamore. “But if somebody’s got proper sleep apnoea, it needs diagnosing and treating appropriately.”
Francis recommends washing away allergens and mucus from the nasal passages using a neti pot with lukewarm saline water. “Or steam inhalation with a few drops of eucalyptus oil before bed can work wonders to open the airways.”
Anti-snore pillows are designed to keep your head, neck and airflow passage in the best possible position so you’re able to inhale and exhale better while you’re sleeping. Some are uniquely shaped or have sensors that respond when you do snore.
“Sometimes snoring is a result of a lifetime of mouth breathing and the jaw not developing properly,” explains Francis. “The jaw or chin becomes set back and the mouth gets smaller.” Talk to your GP about soft tissue surgery or oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS).
“Sometimes, in individuals who have very enlarged tonsils and are overweight, removing the tonsils can reverse sleep apnoea in full, but even if the surgery is successful, it doesn’t always work,” says Mandal.
Last year, there was a lot of excitement about the anti-epilepsy drug sulthiame as a cure for snoring. It reduces the frequency of breathing interruptions and airflow blockages during sleep, which leads to improved oxygen levels.
While sulthiame is approved for childhood epilepsy, it is still under investigation for OSA. A much larger clinical trial is needed to confirm the drug’s efficacy and long-term effects.
When we’re asleep, the muscles in the tongue and soft palate relax and the position of our jaw and tongue shifts. So when we breathe in during sleep, our upper airway narrows, heightening resistance to the incoming air. This can create vibrations, particularly from the uvula, the soft dangly bit at the back of our throat, but also the tonsils and the back of the tongue.
Sleep apnoea is a serious disorder characterised by interruptions in breathing (sometimes up to 30 seconds), gasping for air and loud snoring. This wakes you up to start breathing again. You can stop and start breathing like this hundreds of times. It’s more likely to happen in deep sleep.
Not everyone who snores has sleep apnoea, and not everyone with sleep apnoea snores. But it can signal underlying health problems, Pinilla says.
“Snoring is just the sound of the air going through the airway. So sometimes when the throat is a little bit narrow, as the air goes through, it makes that vibration sound. That’s the snore. It’s a classic symptom of sleep apnoea, so they usually come together, but not always. Some people have severe sleep apnoea without this loud snoring, and the other way round.”
Made up of data from more than 70,000 people from 23 countries, Pinilla’s study found subjects were 18% more likely to have moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea on weekends compared with midweek. This is likely because increased drinking, smoking and staying up late can fuel a serious sleep problem that researchers have dubbed “social apnoea”.
Age and bodyweight also contribute to snoring and sleep apnoea. “As we get older, our muscles don’t work as well, and they don’t receive those signals from the brain to breathe properly,” Pinilla says. But her study also found sleep apnoea severity fluctuates, influenced by sleep schedule regularity, room temperature, body position and diet.
“If you become more sedentary or have other co-morbidities, such as arthritis, where it’s difficult to exercise and you put on weight, snoring may get worse,” says Mandal. “Menopause can affect snoring in women, with fluid shifts narrowing airways and changes in muscle tone.”