Prevent Disease.com - Snoring Linked to Chronic Daily Headache



		Snoring Linked to Chronic Daily Headache NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who suffer from chronic daily headaches appear to be nearly three times as likely to be habitual snorers as those who only get headaches once in a while, a new study suggests. About four percent of adults have chronic daily headaches, which is usually considered to be headaches on at least 15 days per month. The findings suggest that this type of headache may be related to a sleep-related breathing problem, of which snoring is a common symptom. Sleep disordered breathing, or sleep apnea, is a condition in which the upper airway collapses and temporarily halts breathing, causing the sleeper to snort and gasp for breath. Previous research has demonstrated a link between breathing problems during sleep and cluster headaches -- sudden, severe pain, often centered in one eye, which tends to be short in duration but runs in cycles. However, little is known about the cause of chronic daily headaches, according to the study published in the journal Neurology. To investigate, Dr. Ann. I. Scher of the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues looked at the snoring habits of 206 people with chronic daily headaches and 507 healthy people who had occasional headaches. All of the participants were asked how often they snored and chose one of the following responses: "never or rarely," "less than half the time," "more than half the time," "always" or "don't know." About 24 percent of those with chronic daily headaches said they "always" snored, compared with just 14 percent of participants who only had the occasional headache. Half of those with chronic daily headaches said they had 260 or more headache days per year, compared to 24 or more days per year for the healthy participants. Overall, habitual snoring was three times more common in people with chronic daily headache than in those who did not have the condition, the authors report. One potential weakness of the study, according to the authors, is the fact that the participants self-reported their snoring habits, and therefore may not have been completely accurate when it came to estimating their own snoring. Nonetheless, Scher's team conclude that if the association between snoring and headache "proves causal, sleep-disordered breathing may provide a target for therapeutic interventions for chronic daily headache." SOURCE: Neurology 2003;60:1366-1368. Reference Source 89 For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".