CUTTING your time in front of the TV could be the key to stopping your snoring, experts have claimed.

Doctors found that close to 80 per cent of people who spent more than four hours a day in front of the TV had obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) – a common cause of loud snoring.

By monitoring the health and physical activity of 138,000 people for 10–18 years, researchers at Harvard Medical School found that low levels of activity and people who sat down for longer during the day were more likely to have OSA.

At the start of the study, no patients had been diagnosed with OSA, but by the end 8,733 patients had the developed the condition.

OSA is the most common type of sleep apnoea and the NHS said that symptoms of this can include loud snoring, waking up a lot and making gasping, snorting or choking noises.

During the day time you might also feel really tired and find it hard to concentrate.

In order to quell the symptoms of sleep apnoea, the researchers suggested that people who have sedentary jobs, like office workers, should exercise more.

The paper was published in the European Respiratory Journal and the experts said that increased levels of OSA could even lead to weight gain in some people.

Paper author and epidemiologist Tianyi Huang of the Harvard Medical School said there was a clear relationship between lifestyle and OSA.

REDUCE THE RISK

She explained: "People who followed the current World Health Organisation physical activity guidelines of getting at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week and spent less than four hours per day sitting watching TV, had substantially lower OSA risk.'

"Importantly, we saw that any additional increase in physical activity, and/or a reduction in sedentary hours, could have benefits that reduce the risk of developing obstructive sleep apnoea.

'The difference in OSA risk between sedentary work and time spent sitting watching TV could be explained by other behaviours that are related to those activities."

She added that snacking and drinking sugary drinks is more likely to go along with watching TV – compared to being sedentary at work or elsewhere, such as sitting during travelling.

"This could lead to additional weight gain, which we know to be a risk factor OSA", she said.

Huang and the team found that people who were more physically active had lower levels of OSA.

What is sleep apnoea?

SLEEP apnoea is a sleeping disorder and it can cause some serious health complications.

Sleep apnoea causes breathing to repeatedly stop and re-start when you're asleep.

There are multiple different kinds of sleep apnoea, but the most common one is called obstructive sleep apnoea.

This is when throat muscles intermittently relax and block the airways when you're asleep.

Depending on the severity of the case, sometimes sleep apnoea may need to be treated with surgery.

There are a load of different symptoms linked to sleep apnoea but some of the most obvious are loud snoring and abrupt awakenings followed by gasping and choking.

Night time sweating, morning headaches, high blood pressure and a decreased libido are also huge tell-tale signs.

If you notice yourself experiencing mood changes such as depression or irritability, or are having difficulty concentrating you might want to go and pay your GP a visit.

Waking up with a dry mouth or a sole throat is another symptom.

People who exercised moderately for three hours a week were 54 per cent less likely to have OSA compared to those who just did lower impact exercises for two hours a week.

People who spend more than four hours a day watching TV had a 78 per cent higher chance of OSA than their other study participants.

People who worked sitting down had a 49 per cent greater risk.

Experts say that prevention of OSA is key and that people can do this by having a healthy balanced lifestyle.

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