Snoreplasty Offers Hope for Snorers

The Telegraph reports on new research that could offer hope of a new snoring cure for some people.

The treatment is known as snoreplasty (or snore-plasty) and involves an injection into the soft palate of the mouth. In some cases (not all) a fluttering of this palate can be the cause of snoring.

The new research carried out by the Mansoura University in Egypt tested the method on 34 patients with a fluttering palate and found that it was effective in 32 cases.

Not everyone is convinced by the potential of injection snoreplasty. The British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Society notes that in previous trials: "Many of the patients relapsed after 1 year as the scar tissue softened"

Memorex Introduce Memory Foam Earbuds

Memory foam, that wonderful invention usually associated with beds and mattresses, seems to be getting everyhere nowadays. The latest use is the new in-ear eadphones from Memorex.

The new Memorex line of earbuds features Howard Leight's Soundelity technology. This uses a patented memory foam technology to create an eartip that is soft and self-conforming to the wearer's ear shape. Memorex claims that this gives a result equivalent to other professional brands that cost ten times as much.

There are three products in the new range, the EB100, EB200 and EB300. They will be available to buy in the US at OfficeMax from November.

Select Comfort Adds Memory Foam

Minneapolis based bed retailer Select Comfort is famous for its Sleep Number range of adjustable air beds. Now you can also buy a Sleep Number Bed that incorporates memory foam. The new Sleep Number Memory Foam bed combines air chambers with "a carefully chosen amount of foam" to provide the best of both worlds: the feel of memory foam and the adjustability of the Sleep Number air bed.

Select Comfort's director of product development, Greg Pesky, said:

"The Sleep Number Memory Foam Bed is the ultimate solution for people who enjoy the feel of memory foam, but also want what the Sleep Number bed offers - the ability to adjust the comfort, firmness and support of the bed daily"

Sleep Apnea - Not All Bad?

A well-known cause of snoring is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). This condition is potentially life-threatening and has been linked with higher chance of heart attack and stroke.

Now the Telegraph reports on surprising new research that suggests OSA might actually be associated with longer life in some older people.

The study followed people aged over 65 for four years and found that people with moderate sleep apnea were actually more likely to still be alive. For light and serious OSA sufferers mortality rates were the same as for the general population.

The reason for this surprising result is unknown. One suggestion is "ischemic reconditioning": the experience of dealing with minor system shocks induced by sleep apnea trains the body to better resist major shocks such as heart attack.

It's important to remember correlation does not necessarily imply causality, there could be other factors at work. However the research does suggest that perhaps in some people medical treatment for sleep apnea might not always be the best option.

As always your first step should be to consult your doctor.