Over three-quarters of Americans will be snoring on Valentine's Day

Over three-quarters of the American population suffer from sleep related problems, mainly snoring. For the partner who doesn’t snore, lack of sleep is just as dangerous on your health as it is on your relationship. Snoring, fatigue, depression, heart disease and high blood pressure are all common side effects of OSA, obstructive sleep apnea.

This Valentine’s Day, couples across the United States will be indulging their partners with chocolates, wines, and rich dinners. Come bedtime, the combination of alcohol and the compounds in chocolate have stimulating effects. The National Sleep Foundation recommends avoiding chocolate at bedtime, as it is can cause sleep problems. Throw snoring into the mix, and you’ve got an extremely sleepless Valentine’s.

Snoring is a common sign that you or your partner might have OSA, obstructive sleep Apnea. Common treatment for OSA includes the CPAP, which blows air into your nose via a nose mask. With much negative consumer feedback, another means of treatment was necessary.

"When patients stop using CPAP for a variety of reasons, their condition worsens. Dentists are now encouraging patients to get better fitting masks, and to sometimes stabilize the airway with oral appliances either with or without CPAP,” explains Dr. Michael Gelb, co-inventor of the Norad Boil and Bite appliance, and TMJ expert at The Gelb Center in New York City. Dr. Gelb is one of Sleep Group Solution's selected instructors teaching dentists about treating sleep apnea with oral appliances.

Sleep apnea disrupts the sleep of both the diagnosed and their partner, causing both to be sleepy and irritable during the daytime. A study published by Kelly Baron, PhD, in 2009 found that disagreements and conflict in the marriage decreased for both husbands and wives after sleep apnea was treated. A good night's rest is in fact critical in a healthy relationship.

Atul Malhotra, MD, medical director of the Brigham and Women's Sleep Disorders Research Program and associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, stated, "I have had many patients get divorced over snoring. Once a couple starts sleeping in separate beds, other aspects of their relationship start to break down. Snoring sounds like a trivial problem or an inconvenience, but increasingly data are showing important social as well as medical consequences to it."

CPAP users may want to consider the sleek, less invasive way to treat OSA, with an oral appliance. "Oral appliances are an excellent way of stabilizing the airway by preventing the tongue and soft palate from collapsing into the back of the throat during sleep. The Norad and Respire oral appliance, among others, have been effective for snoring and mild to moderate sleep apnea,” says Dr. Gelb.


Dr. Atul Malhotra is a leader in sleep medicine and a medical advisor for Sleep Group Solutions.

Dr. Michael Gelb is a co-inventor of the NORAD, or Nocturnal Oral Airway Dilator appliance, and has also updated the Gelb or MORA appliance, named after his father. Dr Gelb has three patents pending for appliances in sleep and pain management.

Sleep Group Solutions is an airway diagnostic technology company serving the needs of physicians and dentists interested in screening, diagnosing, and treating sleep apnea and other upper airway disorders. Sleep Group Solutions offers the latest screening and diagnostic equipment solutions for patients who present with allergy, sinus congestion, rhinitis, deviated septum, nasal polyps, snoring, and sleep apnea. SGS offers the most comprehensive dental sleep medicine CE seminars in the industry focused on teaching dentists the protocols needed to make the treatment of snoring and sleep apnea part of their practice. SGS is the manufacturer of the Eccovision Pharyngometer / Rhinometer.