But, like the stoning of cats and the baiting of bears, snoring is less funny than it seems. It can be a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea -- a state of nocturnal oxygen deprivation that is as potentially risky to health as obesity or alcoholism. About a third of all American adults are believed to snore. Several million are sleep apneics, who are robbed of breath in the night. The majority are men, apparently because of hormones. Maturing women thicken at the bosom and hips; men fatten at the neck and belly. Fatter necks, like rooster wattles, rattle, especially when you're lying on your back.

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According to data presented at a recent American Thoracic Society conference, sleep apneics have a 40-percent higher risk of developing heart disease than do non-apneics. They are also seven times more likely to be in car crashes (they're always sleepy). This is a pretty quiet epidemic, and some people believe it is exaggerated. A 1997 survey article in the British Medical Journal claimed that apnea's hazard to public health was overblown. But leading sleep researchers pointed out that the study was conducted for Britain's National Health Service and may have been biased by a desire to limit treatment. In any case, few individuals take apnea seriously enough to get help.

In my own case, the corticosteroid sprays I use to treat the allergies that inflame my nose seem to have dampened my own nocturnal decibel levels. So much so that I was recently able to observe with an attitude of bemused sympathy, in a laboratory setting, as other people snored.

At Georgetown Hospital's sleep laboratory in Washington, a 42-year-old named Antonio Go is kind enough to let me watch him sleep while hooked up to electrodes. At 9 p.m., three other patients show up to have their sleep monitored. Everyone has bags under their eyes.

To get in the mood we watch a videotape called "Rise and Shine," in which an amiable slob named Todd keeps falling asleep at board meetings and bridge games. Everyone thinks it's a hoot except his wife. Why is he so sleepy? Unbeknownst to him, Todd sleeps poorly in bed -- he snores and chokes and rumbles and turns through the night while his long-suffering wife clenches her teeth.

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