When most people go to sleep at night they continue to breath and adequate amount of air goes in and out of the lungs. However, in the case of persons with snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea, the muscles of the tongue and soft palate sometimes fail to keep the upper airways open. Because of this and associated negative air pressure during inspiration causes the upper airways to close down. This closure blocks the air from going into the lungs leading to fall in the oxygen and increase of carbon dioxide in blood. The brain senses this change in oxygen level and carbon dioxide and person is woken up/aroused, so the upper airway opens and the air is allowed to go in.

This is associated with a forceful deep inspiration producing a snorting, gasping and snoring sound. This arousal can last for just 10 to 30 seconds and the person goes back to sleep again. This arousals is happening in a recurrent fashion and it is not unusual that such patients wake up about 60 or more times per hour. This prevents the person getting normal deep restorative sleep in the night time. This frequent arousals leads to broken or a fragmented sleep and patients is in a state of chronic sleep deficit. Most of these patients when they wake up they are unrefreshed and feel sleepy and tired during day time.

At least 4% of men and 2% of women suffer from this disorder. It is particularly common in overweight, middle aged man and women. Most of the adults with sleep apnoea, snore loudly but not all snorers have sleep apnoea.

Many people with this disorder don't seek any treatment for the obvious reason that they don't know the implication of this disorder i.e hypertension, heart disease, strokes and road traffic accidents. It is a well known fact that snoring has been a sort of topic of various jokes and ridicule since long time and most of the patients who snore or have sleep apnoea take it lightly just because they are unaware of it. It is usually the spouses who are disturbed by the snoring and take their bed partners to seek medical attention regarding snoring and sleep apnoea.

To diagnose a snoring or sleep apnoea the person should undergo a sleep study overnight. Sleep study performed in a sleep laboratory where the person is hooked to the machine and monitored throughout the night and his various parameters like EEG, EOG, Oxygen, snoring, airflow at the nose and mouth, chest movements and abdominal movements are recorded continuously.

Once the problem is diagnosed there are various treatments available in the form of behavioural changes such as weight reduction, avoiding alcohol, sleeping pills at the night, avoiding sleeping in supine position.

Other treatment which is very effective in cases of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnoea is the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). There are other treatments also available in the form of dental appliances and surgical procedures.

Some of the signs and symptoms which should alert the person that they are having a significant problem of snoring and sleep apnoea are:

• Loud and habitual snoring
• Choking, gasping, or holding your breath during sleep (as observed by your bed partner
• Experiencing heart burn during the night or having high blood pressure.
• Getting up in the night frequently to pass urine
• Waking up tired and groggy in the morning associated with headache, feeling sleepy most of the time during day, history of frequent road traffic accident or sleeping while watching T.V.

These are the signs and symptoms which should alert the person who is snoring at night or their spouses and they should seek medical attention immediately.