Snoring can disrupt the sleep of not only the person but also everyone around them. Researchers have been trying to understand what features of airflow and tissue properties make snoring loud. A new scientific study has brought them closer to the answer, reports infohub.kz.
Specialists at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm have developed a three-dimensional computer model of the upper airways. It took into account several factors: airflow, soft tissue movement, and sound generation.
The scientists focused on the soft palate, the area at the back of the mouth. Unlike the hard palate, which feels like a dense bony surface, the soft palate consists of elastic tissues and can move during breathing.
The researchers observed what happens to the air as it passes through the airways and what tissue movements accompany the sound.
The loudest sounds occurred when unstable airflow passed through the soft tissues and caused them to vibrate. The reason may be that the airflow can create pressure on the soft palate, causing it to oscillate, and these oscillations form the sound of snoring.
According to the scientists, the results could help better evaluate methods that alter the properties of soft palate tissues, for example, making them stiffer and less mobile. If the soft palate vibrates less, the volume of snoring could theoretically decrease. However, the researchers do not yet propose a specific treatment.
The 3D model is primarily designed to study the mechanism of snoring. It is still too simplified to recommend treatments to patients based on it. The next step will be to model how different stiffness of the soft palate affects its vibrations and the sound of snoring.
Previously, Kursiv Health wrote that snoring is usually not dangerous and is just a feature of the body. But sometimes it can signal a serious condition—sleep apnea.