system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why does the sound of our own snoring not wake us up when we sleep?
gpt
Snoring can wake you up from sleep for a few reasons. For one, the sound itself can startle you awake. However this is relatively uncommon. More often snoring is a sign (one of many) of sleep apnea, in which a person will periodically close their airway and stop breathing. Once the respiratory drive reaches a critical point and the brain exits REM or stage 3-4 sleep and goes to a lighter stage of sleep. Sleep apnea is a pretty serious condition and can lead to a multitude of health problems. Not everyone who snores has sleep apnea, but nearly everyone with sleep apnea snores.