Why Are We Snoring?
Technically, snoring is defined as any resonant noise from the
respiratory tract that emerges during sleep.
Biologically, snoring refers to a vibration in the airway
connecting the nose and the mouth; a vibration that can emerge
through the mouth, the nose, or (as some non-snorers are
painfully aware), it can emerge through both!
As you can sense, the more narrow the airway, generally
speaking, the more intense the vibration; and ultimately, the
louder the snore.
You may also be wondering why snoring only seems to emerge at
night; after all, people literally use their airway every moment
of their life; so why is snoring a nocturnal dilemma?
The answer to this is found in looking at the tissues within the
airway. This tissue is very soft, and at night becomes relaxed;
it's similar to how some muscles, like biceps, become relaxed at
night since the body does not require them.
As the throat (and its subsequent tissue) relaxes during sleep,
the wind tunnel/airway becomes narrower and hence, snoring
occurs.
Why Do Some People Snore Louder than Others?
This, too, is the reason why some people snore louder than
others; and why the actual tone and pitch of one snorer may be
rather different than another.
The actual snoring sound that emerges is dependant upon the
force of wind that is being pushed through the (narrowed)
airway. As you can envision, the more potent the force of wind
(i.e. the faster the speed of the wind), the louder the snoring.
This is also why even babies can snore; but it's often not
considered snoring in the conventional sense, because an
infant's force of wind through their wind tunnel is so mild,
that it can easily be ignored (though this can lead to
complications; infant snoring can often be a symptom for a
breathing and/or respiration problem, including allergy).
However, while snoring affects people of both genders and of all
ages, it typically does afflict more men than women. Overall,
men's necks tend to be larger than women's necks; and thus there
may be more fleshy tissue in there just waiting to combine with
air flow and cause snoring.
Another reason is that women produce the hormone called
Progesterone, which is considered by some medical experts to be
an aid in reducing or preventing snoring. In fact, there are
some anti-snoring treatments that involve Progesterone therapy
for snoring men.