According to research, snorers are more likely to develop chronic bronchitis than those who don't snore.
The research, which took four years to complete, was undertaken in Korea and surveyed over 4,000 people between the ages of 40 and 69. It found that people who snore six or seven times per week are around 68% more likely to develop the illness. It also found that people who only snored a few times per week - around five times or less - had a 25% chance of developing bronchitis.
Bronchitis strikes when the sufferer's lower airways become inflamed. The inflammation tends to be accompanied by a chesty cough, shortage of breath and an uncomfortable amount of mucus. During the four-year study, participants with a cough and mucus on most days for three months per year of a two-year period were diagnosed with the illness.
The results of this study, which was conducted by Dr Inkyung Baik of the Korea University Ansan Hospital, were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine journal.
Participants in the study were carefully selected and details on their health and family history, as well as lifestyle factors such as whether they were smokers and how often they snored were taken and carefully monitored. Also, any participants that were diagnosed with asthma during the study were excluded from the final analysis. In total, the number of people who developed asthma during the study was 314.
If you're a snorer, you could reduce your chances of developing bronchitis by undertaking a stop snoring treatment. Studies continue to show that smoking is also a cause of chronic bronchitis, so you'll find that stopping smoking is also a good way for you to reduce your risk of developing this illness.
