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Research is confirming what many women who sleep with a snoring partner already know - snoring is significantly more common among men.
According to overseas studies, up to 80 per cent of men snore at some time - double the number of women - and about half of those snore every night.
"It's much more a male problem than female [one]. We don't fully know why, but there's quite good evidence that snoring disturbs partners," sleep disorder specialist Dr Andrew Veale says.
"These people are beside themselves, it results in the end of marriages and all sorts of things. It's often the last straw."
A keynote speaker at the annual Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand conference held in Auckland last week, Veale says snoring is caused by a combination of factors, including body position and alcohol, but also certain genes passed down the family tree that make it harder to breathe.
"The most important thing is the inherited shape of your face and neck. So if Dad is a snorer and you look like Dad, you're in deep strife."
Snoring is often treated as a joke, Veale says, but people ignore the fact that snoring is a potentially serious medical problem at their own risk, and most sufferers in Auckland are not diagnosed. He says that while snorers are unaware of the noise they make, those who suffer from severe snoring - obstructive sleep apnoea - end up dozing from daytime drowsiness.
Sleep apnoea sufferers unconsciously wake up when their throat closes up, saving their lives but causing them to fall asleep at work, in front of the TV or even behind the wheel.
Veale says sleep apnoea closes the throat completely and stops oxygen-flow to the brain. The normally loud snorer suddenly goes quiet for four or five breaths, when there's no airflow, then the moves suddenly with a jerk, says Veale.
"They don't know they've woken, but the brain has woken them up as a way of saving their life. If they didn't wake, they'd be dead.
"But the waking up and the starting arousal result in daytime sleepiness.
"These are the people who nod off in front of the TV or at meetings, and quite a significant percentage of car crashes can be caused by drivers falling asleep."
Any arguments around the breakfast table between couples over who snored longest and loudest should be shortlived, says Veale.
Snoring can be managed by a range of treatments, including weight loss in some cases, nasal and mouth sprays, adhesive breathing strips, dental splints and even surgery.
However, anecdotally, Veale says, the number of pillows and how they are arranged can increase the risk of snoring.
Airways are obstructed when the head tilts forward, so sleeping with fewer pillows or with none at all opens the airways and allows sufferers to breath easy.
