Do pet dogs make you snore?

Ever wondered why some people snore and some don’t?

No, unlike my long-suffering partner, it hasn’t been given us sleepless nights either. But it is a huge problem, and one that scientists in Sweden reckon they can offer some insight.

They say that if you had dogs when you were growing up, you are more likely to snore when you are an adult.How? Well, apparently it has something to do with the fact dogs not only stink the house out but also spread an infectious disease around the home, which leads to the enlargement of the tonsils.

This makes you snore in later life, the team of scientists from the Umea University Hospital claim. Only dogs carry this risk.

They also say adults who were hospitalised for chest infections during the first few years of their lives and those with regular ear infections were also more likely to make a racket in bed.

But, obviously, these are not as interesting.

The study concluded: “The predisposition for adult snoring may be partly established early in life.

“Having had severe airway infections or recurrent otitis (ear infection) in childhood, being exposed to a dog as a newborn, and growing up in a large family are environmental factors associated with snoring in adulthood.”

Well, there you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth. But like me, you may now be thinking of people who snore and whether they had dogs when they were kids.

Just thinking of the top of my head, it sort of rings true.

But Dr Karl Franklin and his team, who questioned more than 15,500 randomly-selected Scandinavians, are convinced.

They found those who had dogs as kids were 3.4 per cent likely to snore, while ‘ever smoking’ (14%) was the biggest contributory factor.

The study added: “We hypothesise that infections in childhood and exposure to airborne endotoxins in infancy stimulate the lymphatic system with subsequent enlargement of the tonsils.”

Picture: MorgueFile