It’s already 10 p.m. at night and the house is fast asleep. Now, what happens when the loud, gurgling sounds at night that you’re familiar with your partner making actually turn out to be sounds being emitted from your precious little child? It could be simple snoring, or it could be something a little bit more worrisome.
Snoring is actually one clinical entity along a spectrum of diagnosis of what physicians refer to as sleep disordered breathing. Put simply, at night our breathing patterns differ from when we are awake because our body is in a relaxed state. There can arise moments of obstruction in our airway, which results in disordered breathing such as snoring. More than not it is just that stuttering sound that keeps bed partners awake. But in some cases it could be more concerning, and that term is known as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
Editor’s Note: Assist. Prof. Dr. Dhave Setabutr, a U.S. board-certified specialist in otolaryngology and pediatric otolaryngology (Ear, Nose, Throat) at Bumrungrad International Hospital.
