Health Notes for the Farm

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 63, Issue 2, 15 August 1941, Page 163

Health Notes for the Farm

DO YOU SNORE?

Defects of the Nose and Throat In Children

Contributed by the Department of Health.

IT has been written: “Sleep quietly and the world sleeps with you. Snore and you snore alone.” There is more .truth than'poetry in this statement. Snoring seems to be particularly a human attribute, and the further we advance in civilisation, according to an overseas authority, the more we advance in snoring. There is little in medical literature relating to snoring, nor is it a term for poetic effusion or a subject for literary romanticism. Snoring as a subject for conversation in polite society is also taboo. It is not generally discussed, because the snorer is not aware of the fact that he snores, and the one who hears the snoring is generally too much annoyed even to discuss it. Snoring is a sore affliction—to the hearer. The more we think of snoring, the more we believe that the subject lends itself to a candid though, mind you, amiable discussion. Snoring may be looked upon from three standpointsthe aesthetic, the social and the medical aspect. Aesthetic Aspect While, in the case of the majority of offenders, snoring is merely the production of a weird, hideous noise, some snorers are veritable sound artists with whom the process of snoring is a fine art. From the musical point of view, snoring runs the gamut of all notes and scales, representing, every sound in Nature or invented by man. The sounds may be high pitched or low pitched; they may be tenor or bass in quality. The general consensus of opinion, however, is that snoring as a musical venture is a failure. The sounds produced by snorers have been classified as follows:Booming, sizzling, raucous, hissing, puffing, tearing, rending, scraping, rasping, gargling, sawing, or a combination of all. The snorer may be trying to give vent to his interpretation of , a song, or it may be in the nature of a symphonic composition of the ultra-modernists type, a sort of cubist expression of music. We are told that our advanced composers

believe in dissonance or cacophony. Snoring is that. Therefore, we think we have made a fair, argument for snoring as one of the fine arts. \

Social Aspect

Socially, snoring is either a tragedy or a comedy, as we look at it.

Scene.— Husband and wife, newly married, at the breakfast. Husband asks solicitously how wife has slept. “Not very well, John,” she replies. “Why, my love?” asks the husband anxiously. “Well, you know, dear,” she replies. “I just don’t like to say—but—- “ But what, my dear?” he insists. “Well, John,” she, says, “since you must know, you snored horribly last night.” • - “What! me snore?” blusters the bridegroom. < ' “Oh, John dear,, don’t be angry, but it is true.” “Why, my dear, I never snore,” protests the husband. “But, John, you kept me awake snoring.” “You must be mistaken. Or it may have been that I had a little cold, or perhaps I slept on my back, but as a rule I never snore.” “But, John, why deny it? I heard you.” Some snorers keep their neighbours awake, especially in large apartment buildings. The type of snoring occurring in a railway sleeping car should be of profound interest to the research worker in snoring. Somehow or other, the railway sleeping car is a favourite place for the snorer. Perhaps it is the contiguity of other sleepers that brings out the snoring. But whatever the reason, the sleeping car snorer has stirred murder in the hearts of many. That more A killings have not taken place on account of snoring is due to great emotional control.

Medical Aspects

Here, it should be noted, that it is the medical phase of snoring which we have been trying to get at all the

time. Now, 'snoring. is breathing with a peculiar rough noise in sleep due to vibration of the soft palate and uvula. It is a hoarse, laboured respiration produced by deep inspiration and expiration through the nose and open mouth; It usually occurs when sleep is most profound, for .it is during deep sleep that complete relaxation takes place. ■ . ' ; The sleeper, if normal, sleeps with his mouth closed, ' breathing naturally through the nostrils, which prevents the vibration of the loose tissues of the throat. The mouth breather in the relaxation of deep sleep is usually the one who snores, but it is possible for snoring to occur with , the mouth completely shut and nothing the matter with the nasal passages. The tendency is increased, however, by any obstruction of the nasal airway, the result of polypi, tumor growths,' enlarged turbinates, bony deformities, or sinus infections. Chronic inflammation of the nasal linings may cause an enlargement of the tissues sufficient to obstruct the nose. Lying on the back is more apt to induce snoring 1 than lying on either side when sleeping. Of course,’ if one is an habitual snorer, any position assumed in sleep may not mitigate the snoring. As a 'rule, the snorer is not aware that he snores. His suspicion should be- aroused, however, if he wakes up in the morning with a dry mouth and a tongue like leather. That is due to the drying of the secretions of the mouth by mouth breathing. Aside from the aesthetic and social aspects of snoring, the medical side is of great importance to the snorer. As we have pointed out, snoring is usually an indication of some disturbance in the nose that requires the care of a physician. '

Snoring in Children

In children, snoring is commonly an indication of enlarged adenoids and tonsils. Adenoids, especially, are the cause of mouth breathing and, consequently,' snoring in children. Special attention should be paid to the care of these conditions in children, as the longer the delay, the more serious the complications likely to follow. Adenoids and enlarged septic tonsils are open doors for disease germs. Neglect of these conditions may mean permanent delicacy of body and dullness of mind. ’Enough has been written to indicate that snoring and mouth breathing are, as a rule, due to certain physical defects which should be corrected. The family doctor should be consulted to determine the cause or causes and to suggest the needed treatment.

Proverbs for Health Sickness lowers earning capacity. Insufficient sleep endangers health. Moderation in all things prolongs life. The careless spitter is a public danger. A bath should be a habit—not an event. Today is always the last day to clean up. Polluted drinking water causes many deaths. The airtight dwelling leads but to the grave. Unpasteurised milk frequently ' spreads disease. Walking is the best r exercise—the cheapest. Fresh air, good rest —these combat tuberculosis. Bad teeth or diseased tonsils may , cause rheumatism. -■ . An ounce of fresh air is worth a pint of cough syrup. A day in bed as a safeguard is worth two in getting well. A vacation should be a change of occupation, but not too radical a change in daily personal habits. Without health no pleasure can be tasted by Man.