The first recorded reference to a bulldog occurred around 1631, when an English gentleman wrote that he wanted someone to “procuer mee two good Bulldogs.”

Since then, the once-ferocious canines have become sweet-natured and hardly capable of tackling a bull (originally, they were bred to fight tethered bulls).

They do, however, still snore loudly, often surpassing humans in volume and frequency.

It's estimated that 40% of adult men and 24% of adult women snore regularly. One study found that women snore at about 50 decibels and men hit about 52.

Snoring happens when the muscles supporting your upper airway relax during sleep and the air flowing through the passages makes adjacent tissue vibrate.

Even if snoring doesn't fully awaken you, whatever regularly disturbs sleep (and it does) is associated with health problems such as Type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and high blood pressure.

Snoring can also be a sign of sleep apnea. To see if you have this disorder, get evaluated by your doctor or a sleep specialist.

Here are some things you can do to reduce snoring:

• Limit or eliminate alcohol intake.

• Sleep on your side (with a pillow between your legs).

• Lose weight.

• Quit smoking.

• Elevate your head.

• Treat allergies.

• Talk to your doctor about using devices that keep airways or nasal passages open or the mouth shut.

In some cases, minimal operations to stiffen the soft palate or remove part of the tonsils or uvula in the throat can resolve the problem.

Figure out what you need to do to breathe more easily at night. Your health and happiness — and your bedmate's — depend on controlling your snoring.