Are you a snorer? Then you could have a higher risk of cancer

According to new research, snoring may in fact make you five times more likely to develop cancer than your non-snoring partner.

Does your missus snore in the middle of the night? Do you give her a ‘friendly nudge’ to get her to stop? Well you might be helping to save her life as doctors from the US and Spain believe heavy snorers may be five times more likely to develop cancer. That woke you up.

Snoring is one of the main symptoms of sleep apnoea and sleep disorder breathing (SDB) and the new research points to the lack of oxygen that occurs when someone snores as the main cause of the problem.

Tests carried out on lab mince showed that intermittent hypoxia - or a lack of oxygen to the body – actually promotes tumour growth in mice that had skin cancer.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in collaboration with researchers from the University of Barcelona carried out the study.

Dr. F. Javier Nieto, the study’s author, said that they’re still a long way from proving that sleep apnoea causes cancer or contributes to its growth, however, clinical studies on animals have shown that a lack of oxygen does promote cancer growth.

According to CBS news, not everyone who snores has sleep apnoea, but if you feel tired after a long nights sleep then you might not be getting enough oxygen. If that’s the case, see your doctor for advice.