The invention is called Jukusui-Kun, which means “deep sleep” in Japanese, and is a robotic polar bear pillow.  The device contains a remote pulse oxygen meter that is attached to the snorer’s hand, in the form of a baby polar bear.  When the snoring gets too loud and the oxygen level in the blood drops, the bear goes into action, and gently paws at the face of the snorer.  Quite often, that gentle touch will make the snorer change position without waking them, stopping the snoring.

The bear also contains a microphone so it can monitor the noise level of the snoring.  A wireless terminal collects and analyses the data and controls the actions of Jukusui-Kun.  It is quite an imaginative and useful tool in the fight against snoring, but the product is still only in its testing stages, and is not yet available to consumers.

With the high-tech gadgetry the bear contains, there is the question of how effective the device is.  The Waseda University in Tokyo is probably the only institution that can answer that question when their testing phase is complete.  But you have to admit that the premise behind it is “sound” one.

If you have information on similar devices to help with a snoring problem, please share it in our comments section for all of our fellow snorers.

Diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea is easily done through testing in a sleep laboratory.  If you or your significant other have a snoring problem you should see your doctor in order to have the testing scheduled.  It normally requires a night away from home so that you can be monitored in the sleep lab to determine how many times a night you quit breathing.  This determines whether or not you have obstructive sleep apnea or merely a common snoring condition.

With either diagnosis, there are many effective treatments available to reduce or prevent snoring.  It your doctor determines that you have obstructive sleep apnea he or she may prescribe the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine.  It provides a steady stream of air through a nasal mask, allowing the airways to remain open during sleep.  This prevents, and quite often even cures, a snoring problem.  However, not everyone can tolerate wearing the CPAP mask.

In some cases, snoring can be prevented by the use of an oral device that is similar to the mouth guards worn while playing sports.  The device allows the bottom jaw to move forward during sleep, keeping the airways open.  The effectiveness of the device depends on how severe your snoring problem is.  You can discuss this treatment option with your doctor, who may refer you to a dentist that specializes in the fitting and creation of the device.

If you have a snoring problem, please let us know which of the many treatments you are using and how effective it is.

Believe it or not, these people do bring their home lives with them to work in the fact that they get very little quality sleep each night.  Their sleep is interrupted because of the noise of their snoring bed partner.  This causes that sluggishness and lack of productivity that can cost companies upwards of billions of dollars in a year due to sleep deprivation, both on the part of the snorer and their bed partner.

Although there are many causes for snoring, one that causes the persistent snoring that occurs night after night is sleep apnea.  This is when the muscles of the throat relaxes, allowing the tissues to vibrate with the inhale and exhale in breathing and even for the trachea (the wind pipe) to constrict or collapse.  The result is that the snorer quits breathing for a few seconds, making them gasp and even snore louder in order to get the air they need.  They change positions, either by themselves or by the elbow jabbing of their bed partner, and return to sleep.  But by them, the damage is done.  They already have that interruption in sleep that causes all of those daytime symptoms.  Not only that, but have the lack of oxygen that gives their body a restorative sleep.

It’s important you learn more about this condition if you have a snoring bed partner, or even if you snore yourself.  Feel free to share experiences here for others to learn from.

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common thing when it comes to interruption while sleeping. What usually happens is that the airways actually collapse, which in turns causes blocked or shallow breathing, and the sound of snoring accompanies it. So, what did these studies find? Well, the couples were allowed to sleep together for two nights in a lab to get a baseline before being treated. After the men went home, they were hooked up to a breathing device that delivers CPAP, which is known as continuous positive airway pressure.

Believe it or not, the studies found that the treatment worked much better when men slept in the same bed as their wives. The couples that shared the bed with each other had fewer wake-ups. The women who left the bed woke up more often, even when their men were not snoring. In a news release the Doctor whom conducted these studies said that married couples should be educated together and treated together. That way, they go through everything together, and it’s already been proven that sleep apnea is nowhere near as bad when couples are with each other.

If you have any comments about this article, feel free to leave them in our comments section. We always love hearing what our readers have to say about our articles.

Snoring, even if it is something you have never done before in your life, is a very common occurrence during pregnancy. It can disrupt your sleep, and whomever you are sharing your bed with. In severe cases, it could also affect people that you are not even sharing a room with. Usually, snoring is just nothing more than an annoyance. In some cases, however, snoring can be a sign of gestational diabetes or sleep apnea, which is a disorder that can deprive you and the infant you are carrying of oxygen. Sleep apnea and pregnancy can go hand-in-hand, especially in the third trimester. People whom are overweight are especially susceptible.

So, what can you do about snoring during pregnancy? Well, I am going to outline some tips below that should be able to help you out.

• Take advantage of nasal strips. Put one on right before you go to sleep. Don’t worry, they are completely drug free.
• A warm mist humidifier is another great thing you can use in your battle against snoring.
• Fluffing up your pillow and trying to sleep with your head elevated should be of some help.
• Keeping an eye on your weight, and your calorie intake, so you can make sure excess weight is not contributing to your snoring problems.
• Ask your Doctor about sleep apnea, gestational diabetes, and about your snoring problems.

If you have any other tips about snoring while pregnant, please feel free to share them below.

In this study, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh asked over 800 people between the ages of 45 and 74 about their sleep quality. After three long years, the people whom reported that they snore loudly while sleeping were more than twice as likely in opposed to people that do not snore loudly to have metabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke that includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, low cholesterol levels, high triglycerides, and excess fat in their stomach.

People who reported having trouble falling asleep or who woke up feeling groggy, or like they did not have a good night’s sleep occurring at least three times per week were about 80 percent, and 70 percent more likely than quiet sleepers to develop three of more of the risk factors listed above. In other words, if you have a snoring problem, it could have a major negative impact on your life. Therefore, you should get treated right away.

If you have any comments about this post, please leave them below in our comments section. We always enjoy going over our readers comments and hearing your thoughts.

Believe it or not, although men are more likely to suffer from snoring than women, but for men it is only a physical thing. When it comes to a snoring problem for women it can actually affect them psychologically as well. Since society has labeled snoring men as something that is seen as being masculine and “manly-like”, women feel that when they snore it is embarrassing or not very lady like.

The problem can certainly run much deeper with women than just the fact that they are losing some well-needed sleep, and it can also affect their partner. The embarrassment that this can cause for women can be mild, but it can also be much more serious than that. Snoring women may actually begin to suffer from self-esteem levels beginning to fall. They also may be weary of entering a relationship with men, because of their embarrassing problem.

That being said if you are a woman that snores you are not alone and there are treatments and cures for your problem. Do not let snoring ruin your life any longer and get the help you deserve. If you are a woman with a snoring problem, or you know a woman that snores please leave a comment in the section below.

Age also plays a factor when it comes to snoring. As you get older, your throat will become narrower, and the muscle tone in your throat will begin to decrease. If you are a man, you are also more likely to snore than women. The reason for this is because men have a typically more narrow air passage than women, due to having naturally bulkier necks.

Snoring problems have also been associated with your weight. If you are overweight, your throat tissues can be less firm, that means they are more likely to vibrate when you breathe. Also, smoking has been known to create snoring problems. Smoke can irritate the back of your throat, and it can cause tissue damage, which will cause your airways to become inflamed, and then snoring problems will begin to arise. If you are a drinker of alcoholic beverages, you may want to limit yourself. Drinking will cause you to become more relaxed, which also mean that the muscles in the back of your throat become relaxed, which can instigate snoring problems.

If you know of any more causes of snoring, please leave a comment below.

The study involved ten men that suffered from sleep apnea, as well as their wives that were unaffected by sleep apnea, and did not snore. The couples were able to sleep together for two nights in a laboratory, so that the Center would be able to find a solid baseline before they decided to attempt to treat the couple. After the two nights were up, they sent the couple home and continued their study on the men for up to two more weeks. Believe it or not, the study proved that men were able to sleep much better when they slept in the same bed as their wives.

The study showed that the men adhered to their snoring treatment with CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) 74% of the time versus only 43% of the time when their wives were not in bed with them.

If you or your spouse suffers from a snoring problem, have you noticed that when you share the bed with each other that the problem tends to dissipate? If you haven’t noticed, start keeping track of the snoring problem and let us know if the above was able to help with your or your spouse’s snoring problem.

There are similarities between some of the symptoms of sleep apnea and some psychiatric conditions.  Those symptoms include chronic fatigue, inappropriate times of sleepiness, irritability, and insomnia.  Given the similar symptoms, it made sense to begin testing their patients to find out if they were at risk for sleep apnea.  It was found that 56% of those tested had abnormal oximetry results (oxygen monitoring), meaning that they were diagnosed with moderate to severe sleep apnea.  Treating those patients for sleep apnea more than likely alleviated some of the symptoms of their psychiatric conditions as well.

The psychiatric patient screening was done through a simple eight-question survey asking for yes or no answers that asked about snoring, tiredness, body mass index, age over 50 and a large neck circumference. The given answers to the questions determined whether the patient was at risk for sleep apnea and gave an indication as to whether the patient needed additional treatment.  In treating the sleep apnea problem, the patients were then able to focus more on their mood or associative problems.

It was noted that those patients would have gone undiagnosed for their sleep apnea problems if the routine screening for the condition had not been implemented.  That means that they would still be suffering the effects of the problem as well as their psychiatric condition.

Please post your opinion of these findings, as well as any experience you have with these studies or treatements.