Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T23:25:41.296Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rediscovering the importance of nasal breathing in sleep or, shut your mouth and save your sleep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

P. Lavie
P. Lavie*
Affiliation:
Sleep Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
*
Prof. Peretz Lavie, Ph.D., Sleep Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Technion— Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Recent research, stimulated by the growing awareness of the sleep apnea syndrome, has shown that nasal breathing plays a major role in the regulation of respiration in sleep. These observations are not new; they confirm century-old clinical findings on the importance of nasal breathing in sleep. The earliest account of the deleterious effects of mouth breathing in sleep was made by Lemnious Levinus towards the end of the sixteenth century. Two hundred years later, Catlin dedicated an entire book to the superiority of nasal breathing over mouth breathing in sleep; and in the late 1800's, Cline, Wells, Griffin and others showed that obstructed nasal breathing causes sleep disorders.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 101 , Issue 6 , June 1987 , pp. 558 - 563
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anch, A. M., Remmers, J. E. and Bunce, H. III. (1982) Supraglottic airway resistance in normals and patients with obstructive sleep apnea. Journal of Applied Physiology, 53: 1158–1163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, S. D. and Ron, J. (1980) Sleep apnea syndrome and supraglottic edema. Archives of Ortolaryngology, 106: 486–491.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bosworth, F. H. (1896) Diseases of the Nose and Throat. William Woods, New York.Google Scholar
Catlin, G. (1861) The breath of life. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Cline, C. L. (1892) The effects of intra-nasal obstruction on the general health. Medical and Surgical Reports, 67: 259–260.Google Scholar
Coccagna, E., di-Donato, G., Verucchi, P., Cirignotta, F., Mantovani, M. and Lugaresi, E. (1976) Hypersomnia with periodic apneas in acquired micrognathia. Archives of Neurology, 33: 769–776.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cole, P. and Haight, J. S. (1984) Posture and nasal patency. American Review of Respiratory Disease, 129: 351–354.Google ScholarPubMed
Coleman, R. M., Roffwarg, H. P., Kennedy, S. T., et al. (1982) Sleep-wake disorders based on polysom- nographic diagnosis. JAMA, 447: 997–1003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cottle, M. H. (1960) Concepts of nasal physiology as related to corrective nasal surgery. Archives of Otolaryngology, 72: 11–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cottle, M. H. (1968) Clinical benefits and disorders following nasal surgery. Southern Medical Journal, 61: 1281–1286.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cottle, M. H. (1972) Nasal breathing pressures and cardiopulmonary illness. Eye, Ear, Nose Throat Monthly, 51: 331–340.Google Scholar
Eliascher, I., Lavie, P., Halperin, E., Gordon, C. and Elroy, G. (1980) Apneic episodes as indication for adenotonsillectomy. Archives of Otolaryngology, 106: 492–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferris, B. G. Jr., Mead, J. and Opie, L. H. (1964) Partitioning of resiration flow resistance in man. Journal of Applied Physiology, 19: 653–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffin, E. H. (1898) Nightmare produced by mechanical interferance with respiration. Philadelphia Medical Journal, 2: 1414.Google Scholar
Guilleminault, C., Tilkien, A. and Dement, W. C. (1976a) The sleep apnea syndromes. Annual Review of Medicine, 27: 465–484.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guilleminault, C., Eldridge, F. L., Simmons, F. B. and Dement, W. C. (1976b) Sleep apnea in eight children. Pediatrics, 58: 23–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guye, D. (1889) On aprosexia in the cerebral functions caused by nasal disorders. British Medical Journal, 2: 709–711.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hill, W. (1898) On some causes of backwardness and stupidity in children. British Medical Journal, 2: 711–712.Google Scholar
Konno, A., Togawa, K. and Hoshima, T. (1980) The effect of nasal obstruction in infancy and early childhood úpon ventilation. Laryngoscope, 90: 699–707.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lavie, P. (1983) Incidence of sleep apnea in a presumably healthy working population: A significant relationship with excessive daytime sleepiness. Sleep, 6: 312–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavie, P. and Rubin, A. (1984) Effects of nasal occlusion on respiration in sleep: Evidence for inher-itability of sleep apnea proneness. Acta Otolaryngologica, 97: 127–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lavie, P., Gertner, R., Zomer, J. and Podoshin, L. (1981) Breathing disorders in sleep associated with 'microarousals' in patients with allergic rhinitis. Acta otolaryngologica, 92: 529–533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lavie, P., Alroy, G. and Halpern, E. (1982a) Apneic and nonapneic breathing disorders in sleep. Israel Journal of Medical Science, 18: 523–533.Google ScholarPubMed
Lavie, P., Zomer, J., Eliaschar, I. et al. (1982b) Excessive daytime sleepiness and nocturnal insomnia associated with deviated nasal septum. Archives of Otolaryngology, 108: 373–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavie, P., Fischel, N., Zomer, J. and Eliaschar, I. (1983) The effects of partial and complete mechanical occlusion of the nasal passages on sleep structure and breathing in sleep. Acta Otolaryngologica, 95: 161–166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levinus Lemnious (1581) The Touchstone of Complexions. London.Google Scholar
Lugaresi, E., Coccagna, E., Fornet, P., Mantovani, M. and Cirignotta, F. (1975) Snoring. Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 39: 59–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNicholas, W. T., Tarlo, S., Cole, P., Zamel, N., Rutherford, R., Griffin, D. and Phillipson, E. P. (1982) Obstructive apneas during sleep in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis. American Review of Respiratory Disease, 126: 625–628.Google ScholarPubMed
Olsen, K. D., Kern, E. B. and Westbrook, P. (1981) Sleep and breathing disturbance secondary to nasal obstruction. Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, 89: 804–810.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Orem, J. (1980) Control of the upper airways during sleep and the hypersomnia-sleep apnea syndrome. In: Orem, J., Barnes, C. D., (eds), Physiology in Sleep. New York: Academic Press.Google ScholarPubMed
Rubin, A., Phillipson, E. and Lavie, P. (1983) The effects of airway anesthesia on breathing in sleep. Chest, 84: 337 (abstract).Google Scholar
Tasson, V., Wynne, J. W., Cassisi, N. and Block, J. A. (1981) The effect of nasal packing on sleep disordered breathing and nocturnal oxygen desatura-tion. Laryngoscope, 91: 1163–1128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vaughan, G. E. (1908) Snoring, mouth breathing, Journal of the Tennessee Medical Association, 1: 28–35.Google Scholar
Wells, W. (1898) Some nervous and mental manifestations occurring in connection with nasal disease. American Journal of Medical Science, 100: 677–682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wynne, J. W. (1982) Obstruction of the nose and breathing during sleep. Chest, 82: 657–658.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zwillich, C. W., Pickett, C., Hanson, F. N. and Weil, J. (1981) Disturbed sleep and prolonged apnea during nasal obstructions in normal men. American Review of Respiratory Disease, 124: 158–160.Google ScholarPubMed