Why Do Fat People Snore Often? This Is The Medical Explanation

Fat Illustration (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Those who are obese have a number of risks of various health problems and two of them are snoring and heart failure, health experts say.

Regarding snoring, an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia, dr. Niken Ageng Rizki, Sp.ENT-KL said that the neck circumference and the diameter of the airway had an effect on the appearance of snoring.

This neck circumference is influenced, among other things, by the obesity experienced by a person, according to the staff of the Department of THTKL, Faculty of Medicine, University of Pelita Harapan. Being overweight causes more tissue to develop in the throat which can lead to snoring.

"Obesity affects neck circumference from airway diameter," Niken said as quoted by ANTARA.

Snoring or breathing problems during sleep occur because there is a blockage in the airway. A hoarse voice that arises from vibrations of air in the roof of the mouth or throat.

The cause is respiratory arrest or apnea so that the body does not receive oxygen during sleep due to airway closure, causing vibrations in the throat or airway.

Blockage in the nose, back of the nose, throat due to tonsils, palate, irritation of stomach acid, swelling of the vocal cords and base of the tongue contribute to snoring.

Furthermore, snoring is a sleep disorder or Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) with an increasing incidence in old age in both men and women.

In addition to snoring that sufferers often don't realize, those who snore generally at night also often choke, cough, sleep poorly, and urinate frequently (BAK). Then, due to poor quality sleep at night, when he wakes up in the morning he experiences headaches, drowsiness, difficulty concentrating and fatigue.

In children, hyperactivity can be a symptom that parents need to watch out for. They need to get an examination of the airway, to determine for sure the symptoms of OSA that can cause a child's concentration to decrease.

Snoring that appears initially can be occasional, however, because the blockage is getting worse, for example due to nasal obstruction, allergies, inflammation of the nasal cavity, for example enlarged tonsils, the ceiling drops so that it becomes a persistent snoring.

If this is the case, then the condition has entered the category of airway narrowing that leads to sleep apnea with mild, moderate and severe categories.

Evaluation of the problem of snoring is done first by finding out the location of the blockage, whether in the nose, throat or disturbances in stomach acid.

Usually the doctor will ask the patient to undergo examinations including ENT, polysomnography to see a chart of breathing, muscle movement, brain, legs and whole body and stomach symptoms.

If the cause is nasal obstruction, then the treatment can be by washing the nose or anti-inflammatory nasal spray. According to Niken, most often the initial obstruction of the nose is so that the patient breathes through the mouth.

For the throat, the doctor must make sure there are swollen tonsils, then because the habit of breathing from the mouth to the palate drops, it may also have to be corrected.

Regarding obesity, as quoted from WebMD and Healthline, losing weight can help reduce or even eliminate snoring.

Those with obesity need to adopt a healthy diet and exercise frequently. Talk to your doctor about developing a diet and exercise plan. In addition to reducing snoring, maintaining a healthy weight can help control hypertension, improve lipid profiles, and reduce the risk of diabetes.