Our Position Statement
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Our Position on sleep-related breathing disorders from snoring to severe obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.
Mission Statement
Drive change
Disrupt
We disrupt the pseudo-scientific marketing used to exploit snorers for financial gain.
Innovate
We innovate and deliver viable alternatives to self-diagnosis and self-treatment with Over-the-Counter nonsense.
Educate
We provide free education for patients (online) and healthcare professionals (on and offline CPD).
Aim
We improve access to appropriate care and enhance patient choice. We believe treatment should ‘fit’ the patient, and not the other way around.
Purpose
We provide evidence-based education and software tools to enable informed choice.
Trust
We want to read trustworthy information online ourselves – so we used that expectation when we created Snorer.com:
- No product placement, endorsement or sponsorships
- No advertisments
- How we’re funded – and why it matters
Trivialisation of ‘Snoring’ and Sleep in general
Evidence
Self-diagnosis and self-treatment
We are passionately opposed to self-diagnosis and self-treatment. We consider the trivialisation of snoring plain offensive.
Snoring is an embarrassing relationship issue that deserves valid help.
Snoring may also be a symptom of obstructive sleep apnoea, which when untreated increases healthcare utilisation, reduces quality of life and decreases the length of the individual’s healthy life.
OTC ‘cures’
Over-the-Counter snore ‘cures’
We consider OTC anti-snoring devices to be incorrectly categorised medical devices with limited, if any, evidence to support their claims.
Furthermore, we consider the regulators inaction reprehensible as they are failing to protect the public.
Manufacturers must be compelled to provide treatment efficacy and safety data prior to placing such a device on the market.
Ignorance
We are opposed to the perception of sleep loss as macho.
This is self-destructive behaviour.
Reduced reaction time and poor decision making, are well known consequences of sleep deprivation.
Imposing sleep loss on yourself or others through work schedules is counter-productive and irresponsible.
Fear
Stigma of OSA diagnosis
Some employment roles e.g. aviation, haulage and maritime, require shift work. A damaging culture where sleepiness is viewed as weakness has developed.
While this toxic culture exists it represents a risk to public safety (should an individual fall asleep while at work).
Perhaps well-meaning yet ill-considered regulation that penalises these individuals should they seek help, merely perpetuates the “sleepiness as weakness” culture.
Fear of job loss or reduced career prospects reinforces inaction.
We must change the system to meet the individual where they are.
Education
Healthcare team
Pharmacists, Dentists, GPs, ENTs, Physicians, Neurologists, Psychologists…
We believe in a holistic approach to patient care where each healthcare professional has unique expertise that complements and enhances patient outcomes.
Respect for professional roles
Only through respect for professional practice boundaries can trust be built and maintained. In so doing, we can break down the silo mentality, benefit the patient, enhance choice, improve adherence to therapy and ultimately improve treatment outcomes.
Public Education
Snoring isn’t a joke
We understand snoring is not a joke; it destroys relationships.
While embarrassing, it does not have to be this way: valid, effective and tolerable ways to overcome snoring are accessible when screened for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
Prior OSA screening is essential because snoring may be a symptom of OSA, which if untreated reduces the length and quality of life of the ‘snorer’.
Employers
It is in the employers’ interest to help their employees overcome OSA/S
Productivity, engagement, and decision-making are all enhanced when employees have slept properly.
It is NOT rocket science.
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is more common than you may think. Conservative data suggests one in ten UK adults may suffer with OSA, and the situation is worsening due to the obesity epidemic and our ageing population.
OSA saps the individual’s energy, makes them irritable and lethargic. OSA treatment is available from the NHS and when treated sufferers are restored to normal function.
Reporting “I feel 10 years younger!”.
Pathways to care
Evolution and adaptation
We have chronic healthcare crises that will cripple our economies; change must happen.
Education, communication, and mutual respect for professional roles, is essential for healthcare to adapt and better suit the patient; and deliver affordable outcomes.
Silos and the absence of reason
In the 21st Century, tiny-minded people with silo mentalities represent a clear and present danger to public health. We do not accept the “It’s the way it is” or “That’s how we’ve always done it” refusal to think.
Care that fits the patient – on their terms
We are all at some point patients and we would wish for our own care to be unhindered. We would each want access to the most appropriate care and respect for our privacy when doing so.
We owe the same to others.