Why do you snore?
What's Up Docs?
BBC
4.4 • 659 Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where identical twin doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing.
In this episode they're looking at snoring, exploring what causes some of us to snore when we sleep. They also want to know when we should worry that our snoring might actually be the sign of a larger problem, and what we can do to sleep a little more quietly at night.
Joining them is Dr Sophie West, a consultant respiratory physician and lead of Newcastle regional sleep service, with national roles across the OSA Alliance, British Thoracic Society, and NICE Sleep Disordered Breathing Guidelines group.
If you want to get in touch, you can email us at whatsupdocs@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08000 665 123.
Presenters: Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken Guest: Dr Sophie West Producer: Maia Miller-Lewis Executive Producer: Rami Tzabar Researcher: Samara Linton Tech Lead: Reuben Huxtable Visual Producer: Leon Gower Digital Lead: Richard Berry Composer: Phoebe McFarlane Sound Design: Melvin Rickarby
At the BBC: Assistant Commissioner: Greg Smith Commissioning Editor: Rhian Roberts A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | If you need help on money matters, you're not alone. |
| 0:10.4 | In the Martin Lewis podcast, I'll give you tips to keep more cash in your pocket |
| 0:13.9 | and answer your important questions. |
| 0:16.7 | Now that we're starting from scratch, what is the best way for us to move forward? |
| 0:21.2 | To help your everyday finances just add up. Let's see what we can do. The Martin Lewis podcast, |
| 0:27.8 | listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:33.2 | Hello, welcome to What's Up Docs, Radio 4's Health and Wellbeing podcast. Today we're doing an episode about snoring, and it just so happens that Chris is giving us an excellent demonstration. Have a listen. |
| 0:45.5 | Now, I'm Doctor Zand. |
| 0:47.7 | Oh, where am I? I'm Dr. Chris. |
| 0:51.3 | Thank you. And today, we're going to try and find out what snoring actually is, what causes it, what we can do to treat it. |
| 0:57.5 | Well, none of this applies to me because I don't snore. |
| 0:59.4 | Well, the listeners and I would beg to differ. |
| 1:02.2 | Right, I'm here, I'm awake, I'm ready for this week's episode. |
| 1:07.4 | But before we get to snoring, Sandy, can we just check in with each other? Have you got anything for me? |
| 1:12.7 | Yeah, well, I have had a lovely thing happen where the last of the tulips in my garden has now been cut and put in a vase. |
| 1:21.7 | We've enjoyed it very much. We're looking forward to seeing them again next year. |
| 1:24.5 | Now, this may not sound like a big deal because lots of people have had tulips over the spring, but it's a big deal for me because I really struggle to do things on time, particularly things with a long deadline where for one day to the next, you can kick it down the road. So amazingly, last autumn in October, I ordered some tulip bulbs. I ordered a really pretty selection, really good, and then I put them in the shed, and I kept thinking, I've got to plant them, got to plant them, got to plant them. Come late February, I had not planted these tulip bulbs. Went into the shed. They're all covered in mould. I'd let them get wet. Can I say, we have a drawer of bulbs and seeds in exactly the same state? the girls. The girls are, oh, can we have carrots? I'm like, yeah, we'll get carrots and then never put them in the ground. Okay, so you've got your shed full of moldy tulip bulbs. Where's this going, sands? Do compost them? Then in a fit of sort of irritation and self-loathing, I go and plant them all in February. February. So fully three months late. Yeah. Yeah. And I looked up. |
| 2:21.1 | I looked up on the internet whether this was worth doing. And, you know, the internet pretty much said, you're wasting your time. But I thought, well, it seems awful to throw them in the bin. I thought the worst little happens up, but I put them in the soil. Well, you're just composting them in the soil? Yeah, that seems fair. |
| 2:53.5 | Anyway, what happened was I got the bumper crop. They all came up. They're all absolutely brilliant. And it was brilliant. And I thought, better late than never, you know. And that isn't always true. But if you've been beating yourself up about the tulips, just stick them in the ground. You could probably stick them in the ground now when they do something. now, April, you know, what color were the tulips, aren't? |
| 2:50.8 | Like a very beautiful pink. Like a very, with little white borders. A sort of soft, intense pink. I mean, I cannot describe how beautiful they were. We derived so much joy from them. And this is what Cathy Willis was saying. You know, if you remember our nature... |
| 3:08.9 | Dane, Professor. |
... |
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