New research lifts the cover on Australia’s snoring habits

A new study has shed light on the physical and mental impact of snoring, revealing Australians are losing almost three nights a week of sleep because of the disruptive issue.

The 2022 Annual Global Sleep and Snoring report found that of the 2000 Australians surveyed, 49 per cent admitted to snoring while 51 per cent accused their partner of snoring.

Men were the biggest culprits making up 56 per cent of snorers compared to 43 per cent of women.

More alarmingly the study revealed 29 per cent of Australians said snoring disturbed their sleep, with those surveyed losing 2.9 nights of sleep to snoring per week.

Sleep Expert Olivia Arezzolo told Mute Snoring, who commissioned the study, that “the stress hormone cortisol can increase by 37% after just one night of insufficient sleep, leaving you feeling anxious, wired and unable to switch off”.

“In addition, beta amyloid, a neurotoxin that contributes to brain fog, memory loss and even Alzheimer’s disease, increases by 5% after 2 nights of inadequate sleep. And, of course, fatigue – which single-handedly contributes to 20% of motor vehicle accidents,” she added.

In addition to the detrimental health effects brought on by lack of sleep, snoring can also lead to flow-on effects that can disrupt the sufferer’s day to day life. Medical expert Dr Vivek Eranki said, “sometimes people wake up with headaches and chest pains”.

“The patients themselves register that ‘during the day I feel tired, during the day I feel exhausted, I’m having difficulty concentrating, I’m having to drink more coffee in order to have my focus’”, he said.

The survey also revealed 22 per cent of Australians argued about snoring on three or more occasions each month.

Relationship expert Debbie Rivers highlighted several important factors to consider when broaching the subject of a partner’s snoring and the strain snoring can have on a relationship.

“At worst, it can cause people to split up, because if you’ve ever been with a snorer it’s a nightmare,” she said.

“Some of the problem is the person that’s snoring doesn’t realise it’s as much of a problem as it is because they’re not having to put up with it.

“It’s not seeing why it’s such a big deal for the person is the biggest problem. In a lot of cases, they don’t get help. The issue is they don’t do anything, so the one person is changing their life, they’re accommodating and the other person won’t even get help.

“I know snoring is a huge deal for so many couples, it’s a difficult one to navigate and being able to understand what impact that has on the other person is important.”

If discussing the matter doesn’t work then the survey also found the novel ways partners of those who snore have resorted to in order to get a decent night’s sleep with 43 percent admitting they have kicked or nudged their snoring partner. Simply waking their partner up was the go to method for 30 per cent of those surveyed and sleeping in another room was the choice for 25 per cent.

IMPORTANT LEGAL INFO This article is of a general nature and FYI only, because it doesn’t take into account your personal health requirements or existing medical conditions. That means it’s not personalised health advice and shouldn’t be relied upon as if it is. Before making a health-related decision, you should work out if the info is appropriate for your situation and get professional medical advice.