Killing your spouse with a snore
The cause of that blood pressure hike may have to do with the level of nighttime noise you're experiencing.
According to a recent sleep study, the snoring of your spouse could be more than annoying—it could also be deadly.
Researchers recruited 140 participants who live around major airports. Results showed that blood pressure spiked after any noise that was louder than 35 decibels. That's about the equivalent of the background chatter you'd hear in a restaurant. It wasn't enough to wake the participants out of their sleep, but they definitely registered the noise as evidenced by the increase in their blood pressure.
Noises that set off blood pressure included street traffic, the noise from a plane passing overhead, and yes—snoring.
The same effect had already been found in studies with dogs. Canine blood pressure was found to increase to an intermediate range when they were in a room with a snorer or any other louder noise.
If you have a spouse that snores, you may want to consider sleeping with earplugs. It's worth trying—and preferable to having a blood pressure problem. As for your pooch, maybe make up his bed in the living room.
