Snoring can be a loud byproduct of sleep. But snoring may do more than disturb peace and quiet for your family members or significant others — it may be disturbing your health.

Snoring can indicate difficulty breathing because your airway is obstructed, says Michael Twery, PhD, director of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute’s National Center on Sleep Disorders Research.

You’re not able to get all the air in each breath that you need. As the severity of snoring increases, it progresses to a medical condition sometimes referred to as sleep-disordered breathing, or sleep apnea.”

Being unable to get enough air in each breath while snoring also means you’re struggling to get oxygen you need for vital organs like your brain, heart, kidneys and liver. Snorting or gasping during sleep may signal you’re not getting enough air, which disturbs your sleep and leads to excessive sleepiness during the day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Risk factors for sleep apnea that result from snoring include being overweight, being over age 40, male and having a family history of sleep apnea, according to the National Institutes of Health. However, loud chronic snoring and sleep apnea can occur in people of all shapes and sizes. Small children, for example, may develop sleep apnea if they have enlarged tonsil tissues, NIH says. Other risk factors include having a large neck, tongue or tonsils, as well as a small jawbone, and an obstruction in your nasal passage because of issues such as allergies, NIH says.

While the changes to your body during sleep-disordered breathing may be small, frequently disturbed sleep alters your body metabolism and over time contributes to the risk of chronic diseases.

“Scientists have measured increases in the risk of heart disease, of stroke, diabetes and other disorders in people with untreated sleep-disordered breathing, sometimes indicated by the sound of frequent, loud snoring.

It’s of the fact that loud snoring affects the individual’s health… and might represent a more serious breathing condition where there’s insufficient breathing during sleep and it’s a condition that needs further treatment.

If you or someone you know has constantly dealt with the side effects of loud snoring. Here’s the smart way you can stop the volume. 

The physician or sleep specialist recommends the  “Smart Anti-Snoring Device”