美国国家公共电台 NPR Beyond Annoying: How To Identify The Sounds Of A Troublesome Snore

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

If you share a bed with someone who snores, you have got a lot of company. An estimated 40% of adults in the U.S. snore, and it's more common in men than women. So when is snoring just an annoyance¹, and when can it be a sign of a serious health problem? NPR's Allison Aubrey went looking for that answer.

ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE²: I came across a new study published in the journal Sleep Health that looks at the top sleep myths. And it turns out, when it comes to snoring, people tend to think that snoring is a sign of good, deep sleep. Is there any truth to this? I put the question to Erich Voigt. He's an ear, nose and throat doctor at NYU.

ERICH VOIGT: Yeah, no. Snoring really does not demonstrate anything good (laughter) - not at all.

AUBREY: Now, while we sleep, if all the air that moves through our noses and mouths has a clear passage, we can sleep completely silently. But when the airways⁴ are narrowed, that's when we snore.

VOIGT: The snoring is basically a vibration⁵ of the tissues inside of the body, inside of the airway³.

AUBREY: And there are a lot of factors that contribute to it. Some we can control, such as drinking alcohol. Alcohol tends to make the tissues swell⁶ a bit. Being overweight can also increase the likelihood. Now, other factors that lead to floppy⁷ or swollen⁸ tissues, we can't control.

VOIGT: Sometimes it's due to allergy⁹. You can get it from upper respiratory infections, viruses.

AUBREY: So many factors contribute. And Voigt says when storing is light and rhythmic¹⁰, it may be annoying, but it's not a problem. It tends to sound like this.

(SOUNDBITE OF SNORING)

AUBREY: However, when snoring becomes very loud and erratic¹¹, this can be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea - a serious condition that can increase the risk of heart disease.

VOIGT: Basically, the airway will collapse¹² on itself and close. And as the person is trying to breathe in, the air will not pass. And that's what an apnea is.

AUBREY: Here's what this troublesome snoring tends to sound like.

VOIGT: Having a - sort of a crescendo¹³ where the snoring is getting louder and louder. And then there are periods where there's no sound. And then they might notice a gasp¹⁴.

AUBREY: The gasp often sounds like this.

(SOUNDBITE OF SNORING, GASPING)

AUBREY: That's a sign there may be a problem, and it's worth it to get it checked out by a doctor. Allison Aubrey, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE BREATHING EFFECT'S "THE MORNING SWIM")

1 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 airway   

n.空中航线，通风口

参考例句：

• Lay them on their side and ensure the airway is unobstructed.让他们侧躺着，并确保呼吸道畅通。
• There is a purple airway in London Airport.伦敦机场里有一条皇家专用飞机跑道。

4 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

5 vibration   

n.颤动，振动；摆动

参考例句：

• There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
• The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。

6 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

7 floppy   

adj.松软的，衰弱的

参考例句：

• She was wearing a big floppy hat.她戴了顶松软的大帽子。
• Can you copy those files onto this floppy disk?你能把那些文件复制到这张软盘上吗？

8 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

9 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

10 rhythmic   

adj.有节奏的，有韵律的

参考例句：

• Her breathing became more rhythmic.她的呼吸变得更有规律了。
• Good breathing is slow,rhythmic and deep.健康的呼吸方式缓慢深沉而有节奏。

11 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

12 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

13 crescendo   

n.(音乐)渐强，高潮

参考例句：

• The gale reached its crescendo in the evening.狂风在晚上达到高潮。
• There was a crescendo of parliamentary and press criticism.来自议会和新闻界的批评越来越多。

14 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。