As per revelations shared by researchers at the University of Chicago, it is possible to differentiate between dangerous and safe snoring through a urine test.

For the sake of study, researchers analyzed 90 children who had been referred to a clinic to be evaluated for experiencing breathing problems while sleeping, and 30 controls, and it was then discovered that children who had been diagnosed with dangerous snoring showed an increase in a number of proteins in their urine.

All the children went through standard overnight tests and some were then diagnosed as suffering from obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

The research team has stressed that while these findings need to be repeated, these could lead to development of a simple enough test.

"It was rather unexpected that the urine would provide us with the ability to identify OSA. If we can develop this further we might be able to screen children for OSA for a fraction of the cost of keeping them in a sleep clinic overnight, and it would overcome the huge waiting lists for such screening", said Dr David Gozal, who led the research.

Details of the study have been published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.