U.S. scientists have found through studies on 119,000 female subjects and 19,000 males that exercise and physical activity reduce the risk of nocturnal breathing pauses (sleep apnea). Even a little exercise during the day is enough to enable better, more relaxed and deeper sleep at night.
The German Lung Foundation points out that loud snoring can also be the result of increasing narrowing of the upper airways if the throat muscles are not sufficiently tense when breathing in. Older people can thus be affected by snoring and breathing pauses, but younger people are also predisposed if they smoke and drink excessive amounts of alcohol or are obese and have too much adipose tissue.
Breathing pauses can last for a few seconds, but can also increase to a minute as the muscles in the throat and pharynx become slack. There are several variants of sleep apnea syndrome. However, affected persons also have breathing regulation disorders in which they breathe too much or too little, if they take certain medications, suffer from heart muscle and kidney insufficiency and hormone disorders, or have suffered a stroke.
To ensure that sleep quality does not suffer, experts advise more exercise, because a lack of physical activity increases the risk of possible sleep apnea, as the study from the United States shows. Excerpts of the study have already been presented in the journal „European Respiratory Journal“.
Source: www.apotheken-umschau.de