Snoring is caused because the muscles in your throat are weak or a little flabby. When you breathe deeply while you are sleeping, these muscle tissues vibrate and make that disruptive noise. The muscles in the throat can lose their tone for a number of reasons. The reasons vary from person to person, and you might find that your snoring is related to a combination of factors.

Some of the most common causes of snoring include:
Sleeping Position: If you sleep on your back, you are more likely to snore than if you sleep on your side.

Being Overweight: When you are overweight, you are more likely to have poor muscle tone in your throat.

Drinking Before Bed: Alcohol can lead to the relaxation of muscles in your throat, making them more likely to vibrate when you breathe.

Aging: As you get older, it is more likely that you’ll start snoring. The reason is that the muscles in your throat begin to lose some of their tone. Weaker muscles in the throat are more prone to vibration when you breathe deeply and that leads to snoring.

Sleep Apnea:This is the most serious cause of snoring. If you have sleep apnea, you periodically stop breathing during the night. When you begin breathing again, you will often snore deeply.

Yet, there are other reasons why do people snoring, but the listed above are the most common causes of snoring.

Sleep apnea, a disruption of breathing while asleep, is a deceiving sleep disorder. Most people who have sleep apnea do not realize that they have the condition; even though their sleep is frequently interrupted throughout the night. People suffering from sleep apnea will wake often through out the night due to their oxygen being restricted or completely cut off.

When apnea sufferers awaken, normal breathing is restored; however, they do not enter a state of complete wakefulness. The apneic events can continue unnoticed because sufferers do not fully awake or recognize they are waking though out the night. With sleep apnea, breathing may temporarily stop or become shallow hundreds of times during a night’s sleep.

A frequently reported symptom related to sleep apnea is daytime sleepiness, some times being so extreme people have reported drifting off at work or while driving. Other common complaints include lack of concentration and poor mental agility that can lead to poor performance at work and an unfulfilling life. In Greek, “apnea” means “with out breath”. There are two types of Sleep Apnea, Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), which is the most common, and Central Sleep Apnea.

There are certain factors that can put individuals at risk for causing obstructive sleep apnea.

1.Male – men are more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea.

2.Age – obstructive sleep apnea commonly occurs in elderly adults.

3.Race – African Americans, Hispanic, and individuals from the Pacific Islands are more likely to have obstructive sleep apnea.

4.Smoking – individuals who smoke are likely to develop obstructive sleep apnea.

5.Diabetes – obstructive sleep apnea common occurs in individuals who have this disease.

6.Menopause – the risk of a woman to develop obstructive sleep apnea  increases  after menopause .

7.Excess weight, areas of fat around the upper airway can cause a obstructive sleep apnea.

8.High blood pressure. obstructive sleep apnea  is fairly common in individuals that suffer from this disorder.

9.Narrowed airway. A naturally narrow throat or enlarged tonsils or adenoids may block an individual’s airway.

10.Neck circumference. Neck size may indicate increased risk of obstructive sleep apnea. A neck circumference of more than 17 inches for men and more than 15 inches for women are a considered to be at increased risk for obstructive sleep apnea.

The cause of Obstructive Sleep Apnea occurs when the air passage at the back of the throat becomes blocked. When muscles in the throat relax, this causes the soft palate to relax as well, which then narrows the airway. This same course of events also causes snoring, although, not all people who snore have obstructive sleep apnea.

As one breathes in through the mouth or nose, the airway narrows further or completely closes and cuts breath short. The airflow restriction causes a gasping sensation, which prompts a period of shallow wakefulness. While partially awake, normal breathing is restored. This persistent blockage of the airway can happen several times an hour, replaying the course of events through out the night, causing a fragmented night of sleep.

Central Sleep Apnea occurs when your brain fails to send impulses to the body to breath. Central Sleep Apnea takes its name from the Central Nervous System, which regulates the body’s necessary functions. This instability in the brain’s respiratory control center can have several causes, the most common being central nervous system dysfunctions or individuals who have suffered a stroke. People who suffer from heart failure or other heart and lung conditions may also develop Central Sleep Apnea.

Sleep apnea symptoms appear only during sleep, making it impossible for those suffering from the condition to be fully aware of the disorder. The most common signs people should be aware of include: excessive sleepiness during the day, and repeated shortness of breath while sleeping. Your bed partner may be the first one to notice these apnea indicators

There are three classifications of sleep apnea symptoms: obstructive, central and mixed. Obstructive is the most common sleep apnea. It involves the relaxation of the throat muscles to the point of obstructing the airway. Sleep apnea symptoms include excessive daytime sleepiness, loud snoring, abrupt awakenings accompanied by shortness of breath, morning headache, difficulty staying asleep, awakening with dry mouth or sore throat.

Loud snoring is one of the most common sleep apnea symptoms. Loud snoring, especially snorting could be worth investigating. With obstructive sleep apnea, sleep apnea symptoms result from the throat muscles relaxing so far as to collapse the windpipe upon inhaling. When the brain triggers the muscles to tighten to breathe again, the arousal is accompanied by a snort.

Observed episodes of breathing cessation during sleep are the less easily noticed sleep apnea symptoms. This means that someone else actually witnessed the sleeper stop breathing. Abrupt awakening with shortness of breath after these episodes is more often a central sleep apnea symptom, than of obstructive, which means the brain, is not sending proper signals to the breathing muscles.

Morning headache, along with dry mouth and sore throat are sleep apnea symptoms resulting from lack of oxygen to the brain, and the frequent gasps for air when breathing is resumed. In addition, mental impairment from restlessness and interrupted sleep can result in memory lapses, problems concentrating, personality changes and even depression.

Difficulty staying asleep is one of the sleep apnea symptoms directly related to the frequent awaken signals issued by the brain. When the blood oxygen level drops, the body responds, arousing the sleeper long enough to resume breathing. The sleep pattern, therefore, is frequently interrupted resulting in restlessness.

If you already have symptoms of the condition, then your next step is to test for apnea. There are many ways of doing this, ranging from answering simple questions to doing home diagnostics tests. Overall, there are five popular methods:

1. Blockages usually occur around the throat, nose and mouth. Checking these parts for abnormal growths can provide a quick tip for your apnea test. Check the soft palate and the uvula as well.

2. Another quick tip is the use of an electroencephalogram. This device records data on the number of awakenings during sleep while checking the state of your brain during these moments.

3. Do a quick endoscopy of the nose and throat to ascertain any blockage during a sleep apnea test.

4. Another quick tip is use of a nasopharyngoscopy. Obstruction in the nasal airways can cause development of sleep apnea. This test determines the level of obstruction, especially in children.

5. You can also test apnea quicker using an apnea hypopnoea index while monitoring oxygen levels in blood.

This is one of the quickest ways you can use to test apnea. You simply do an online test by answering a series of questions related to common apnea symptoms. Questions may revolve around your experiences while sleeping, whether or not you snore, and your levels of mental concentration and fatigue during the day. These tests only take a couple of minutes to complete, and can be found on the Internet by doing a search using the words “online sleep apnea test” in Google or another search engine.

Online tests for apnea are not meant to provide an absolute clinical diagnosis – rather, they can be used to give your sleep therapist or doctor an initial observation.

Have you been told that you seem to stop breathing or gasp while you sleep?
Do you have trouble getting up in the morning?
Do you seem to be loosing you sex drive?
Do you snore loudly, to the point of disturbing others?
…..

Other online apnea tests are more thorough, delving into more areas of your life. They address the potential impact of sleep deprivation, including work experiences and especially driving. Questions might also include personal information regarding weight and age.

Online tests for apnea are not meant to provide an absolute clinical diagnosis – rather, they can be used to give your sleep therapist or doctor an initial observation.

There are two kinds of at-home diagnostic tests:

The first type of at-home diagnostic test consists of a bedside monitoring device that is attached to sensors for the chest, breath, and finger. These apnea home tests collect sleep data like respiratory events (apneas and hypopneas), snoring intensity, blood oxygen saturation, pulse rate and respiratory effort.

Another type of apnea home test is oximetry. This is a clamp worn on a finger and detects levels of oxygen in blood. While it does not collect breathing data, it is perhaps better at detecting low blood oxygen, which is a critical component in diagnosis of apnea.

Like other at-home diagnostic tests, pulse oximetry is prescribed by a doctor or through an “online’ doctor. Depending on your resourcefulness, it may be possible to get around the prescription requirement!

You should take an apnea home test if you you’ve already done an online test for apnea, and it strongly suggested that you have moderate to severe sleep apnea.

There are three different types of sleep disorder.
The most common type of sleep disorder is Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). This type of sleep disorder is caused by an obstruction which stops the flow of air to the nose and mouth. When the breathing stops, blood oxygen levels fall which forces the heart to work harder. By the heart working harder, the blood pressure rises, and may cause an irregular heartbeat. The primary causes of OSA include: obesity; large adenoids or tonsils; deviated septum; enlarged tongue; nasal congestion or blockage due to an allergy; and throat muscles and tongue that relax more than normal. OSA occurs most commonly in overweight men ranging from age 30 to 50.

Another type of sleep apnea is Central Sleep Apnea or CSA. This is type is not as common as OSA. This type of sleep apnea occurs when that part of the brain and nerves that controls breathing does not work properly which causes breathing to be impaired. The cause of CSA is usually a stroke or head injury. CSA occurs most commonly occurs in adults or infants with heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, or congenital disease; however, it can also be caused by some medications and high altitudes.

The third and final type of this sleeping disorder is Mixed Sleep Apnea and is rare. The type of sleep apnea is a combination of Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Central Sleep Apnea.

Central Sleep Apnea (CSA), occurs when the brain does not send the signal to breathe to the muscles of breathing.

Symptoms of CSA:
1.observed episodes of stopped or abnormal breathing patterns while sleeping (this is noticed by a sleep partner rather than the individual with sleep apnea);
2.abrupt awakenings with a shortness of breath;
3.insomnia;
4.excessive daytime sleepiness;
5.problems with concentration;
6.load snoring.

Causes of CSA
1.being diagnosed with congestive heart failure or atrial fibrillation;
2.stroke or brain tumor; living at a high altitude;
3.taking certain medications that affect breathing.