Snoring—It’s not just the sound; more prevalent in blacks

RGUILD (23)

Snoring and too long or too short sleep, have both been correlated with poor health outcomes, more-so in Blacks. Snoring they say is a disease of partners. it takes a companion to know and tell you that you snore. If you snore, it usually relates to other pathology that you might consider getting tested on. Snoring usually equals sleep apnea. Which is cessations of breath while asleep. This can lead to daytime fatigue and sleepiness; and potentially more chronic health problems.

Disorders of sleep, of primary focus, - duration and sleep apnea, are a major health problem in the United States, but even more so in the African American minority population. Blacks are at greater risk of sleep related health problems.

Compounding the severity of this issue among this black minority group is the lack of awareness on this major health issue and reduced adherence to therapy among the diagnosed. In a recent community-based study of black patients in New York, of 421 patients referred for evaluation by their primary care physicians only 38% adhered to assessment for sleep apnea and of this number a staggering 91% were diagnosed with sleep apnea by polysomnographic test. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18853698 ] Factors that could facilitate this disparity include the greater readiness to accept snoring among African American’s when compared to their white counterparts. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16564370

African Americans are also more severely impacted by short or long sleep, when compared to their white counterparts and suffer greater impacts of these duration problems, including cardio-metabolic disease components, like hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol abnormalities among other problems.[ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18390025] As a result of these sleep disorders, this underserved community is at greater risk of health disorders and poorer overall quality of life. [ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20411696]