If your husband keeps you awake with his loud snoring, you are in good company; about 40% of men snore. As annoying and tiring as snoring is, there are more sinister health risks. Loud snorers are much more likely to suffer heart disease and strokes than non-snorers, or even quiet snorers. On a daily basis, snorers (and their bed partners) often get poor quality sleep due to low oxygen intake, and this can make them sleepy during the day, potentially affecting driving and other activities that require concentration.

In order to help your husband stop snoring, you will want to work out if the snoring is due to nasal congestion, or coming from his throat. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell. Snoring is caused when the soft palate, back of the tongue and throat muscles relax during deep sleep, causing obstruction in the upper airways. Throat tissues may vibrate or flap as air passes over them, causing the noise.

Here are six ways he can reduce his snoring:

1. Sleep on his side. Some snorers only snore on their backs, when throat tissues relax back into the throat, or if the chin rests on the chest.

2. Lose 10% of his body weight. Snoring is much more common in overweight men, so encourage him to lose a bit. Even a 10% reduction can reduce neck fat enough to dramatically quieten snoring, and improve health.

3. Avoid alcohol before bed. If your husband likes a drink or two in the hours before bed, ask him to try stopping. Alcohol relaxes muscles and may contribute to airway obstruction during sleep.

4. Treat nasal congestion. Allergies and respiratory problems can cause snoring. A decongestant or saline spray may help.

5. Elevate his head. Ask your husband to try sleeping with a wedge under the mattress to raise his head and make breathing easier. Another method is to prop him up with pillows, but be sure he supports his shoulders, because if his chin drops onto his chest, this can make snoring worse.

6. Try nasal strips. Nasal strips are applied to the outside of the nose and help to keep the nostrils open. If snoring is coming from the nose, these can help a great deal.

It is a good idea to get a health check-up from your doctor. Snoring can be related to a more serious condition - obstructive sleep apnea - and this should be ruled out.

Many people like to drink wine, beer or other alcoholic beverages after work or in the evening, and because of the muscle (and mind) relaxation that occurs, may believe that alcohol helps them sleep.

Ironically, while a few drinks may bring on a sleepy state, they will disrupt the normal sleep cycle and create very restless sleep. The reason for this is that once asleep, the body starts to metabolise the alcohol and this affects brain activity. Alcohol in the blood stream actually disrupts the normal sleep cycle which involves cycling four or five times a night through deep, restful sleep and more active periods of dreaming and high brain activity. Alcohol disturbs the sleep pattern and makes it erratic.

Studies have found that alcohol consumed six hours before bedtime disrupts the second half of the sleep period. Active? alcoholics experience specific sleep disturbances such as needing increased time to fall asleep, frequent awakenings and poorer sleep quality as well as daytime fatigue. Further, these people undergo a vicious cycle when they try to stop drinking since an abrupt reduction or end to drinking usually triggers alcohol-withdrawal difficulties as well as pronounced insomnia and sleep disturbance.

Beyond withdrawal, sleep patterns may never return to normal in people with alcoholism. After years of abstinence, alcoholics tend to sleep poorly, with increased nighttime wakefulness contributing to daytime fatigue.

In addition to the effects of alcohol on the brain, drinking high quantities of any beverage before bed is going to increase the need for urination during the night, creating a further sleep disruption.

The occasional evening of drinks is not a problem, but a pattern of heavy drinking can set up insomnia problems. It can also lead to sleep apnea where the throat’s soft tissues can relax to the point of obstructing breathing during sleep.

Cutting back on alcohol consumption, or stopping it entirely is advisable for people keen to restore restful sleep.

Disturbed sleep is one of the hallmarks of depression. At least 80% of people with depression have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep - insomnia. Waking too early, with less than 6.5 hours of sleep, is also known as terminal insomnia, and is a strong indicator of depression. Not only do depression sufferers get less sleep, the quality of the sleep they get is usually poor.

Normal sleep has a well-defined pattern. We cycle through periods of deep, relaxed sleep marked by slow brain waves, and move into dream sleep where there is rapid eye movement and dramatic brain activity. These cycles normally occur four or five times each night.

Depressed people, however, move quickly into the more active sleep, missing out on the deeper and more restful stages of sleep.

Some researchers believe that insomnia is more than just a symptom of depression and that it may actually trigger depression, or at least be an early sign. Longitudinal studies show that depressed people often experience insomnia about five weeks before depressive episodes.

Researchers also suggest that treating insomnia in these early stages, may prevent depression and sleep problems becoming chronic.

It is important to understand what may have triggered depression and the factors that may be maintaining it. Often depression can be triggered by a stressful or distressing event such as an illness, job loss, loss of a loved one or problems at work. If you think you are experiencing depression, don’t minimise it. Treatments these days are very effective and mostly natural. Anti-depressants may be useful as a short-term adjunct to longer-term treatment, but be aware that some medications can be unhelpful for insomnia. You should find, however, that as you deal with your depression, that your sleep quality improves, allowing you greater enjoyment of life.