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What can I do to help my husband stop snoring so that I can finally get some sleep? -Frances from Orlando, Florida

DR. OZ: snoring generally is about 85 decibels of noise. I mean, that violates OSHA requirements. It can cause hearing loss...that kind of snoring.

DR. OZ: So the thing is, most guys don't realize they're snoring. And women can snore, too, obviously. So there's two basic things that cause snoring. One thing is the collapse of the oral airwave: That, that space where the air moves down into your lungs. Obesity causes it. Uh, sometimes alcohol or other things that sort of relax you too much, and the whole thing clogs up. That's one big area. And the other is allergies. Sometimes folks don't realize it but there could be dust mites in the bed. There could be stuff in the, in the humidifier, whatever it might be that causes allergies that close you up. But if it's a allergy issue, those little bangs over your nose, pretty effective. Uh, if you've got, uh, the more profound problem which is that that airway gets lose and like a kazoo closes down, that's sometimes a bigger deal. But if you can lose just five percent of your body weight, you can reduce your sleep apnea by 30 percent. Now here's an animation to explain why that's the case.

Watch the video: Dr. Oz's snoring animation

So as you're snoring...here's what's happening. That air is moving through your airway, and look what happens inside. Inside you've got this nice narrow passage with your tongue. As that tongue begins to fall to the back, it'll sometimes close all the way. This scares me. This is what sleep apnea is all about, because the snoring is gone now. Instead it's like a caboose hitting' the hammer head-on to another train. All of a sudden you wake up and it happens hundreds of times all night long. This is devastating for your body 'cause your body can never ever actually relax. So the snoring that we see here, that vibration like a kazoo, is what so many of us complain about, I wanna take it one step deeper and talk about sleep apnea.

Now sleep apnea is a big issue for all of us because we know that it's driven by obesity. So it's a simple little step but a very difficult one to do. And when you know you've got that warning sign, it's something you gotta act on. So, can I give you one [piece of] advice for tonight?

DR. OZ: I want you to take a tennis ball and put it inside of Kevin's shirt. In the back. I don't want him lying on his back anymore. He can lie on his left side or his right side, or frankly, on his stomach, although he'll probably asphyxiate there with that snoring'. Left side or right side, and you should be okay, at least with some of the snoring that's you're being devastated by. And this is a big problem for a lot of couples in America.

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