Hypochondriacs should take note of the following unsolicited e-mail I recently received:

Are you snoring yourself to DEATH?

Snoring is often a precursor of serious upper airway disorders such as OSA (the closing of the upper airway while asleep).

Twenty-four percent of adult men and nine percent of adult women are estimated to have some degree of OSA!

‘When persons with sleep apnea fall asleep, their tongue falls back into their throat, blocking their airway. As they struggle for breath, their blood pressure soars,’ Dr. Arthur Friedlander, an oral surgeon who worked on the study, said in a statement. ‘We believe that this rise in blood pressure damages the inner walls of the carotid arteries lining the sides of the neck,’ he added. ‘Cholesterol and calcium stick to the injury sites and amass into calcified plaques, which block blood flow to the brain. The result is often a massive stroke.’

There is help! Click Here to Find Out More!

There’s a well established snoring tradition in my family, but I’m not aware that it’s ever proved fatal - at least not to the snorers. As far as their spouses are concerned… well, that’s a different question.