Sleep apnea is a disorder in which breathing stops temporarily. It is then resumed after a snorting sound. Apnea is usually accompanied by loud snoring, gasping for air suddenly and feeling tired even after a long night?s sleep. Symptoms like morning headaches, lack of concentration, mood swings, and drying up of the throat also suggest that a person is affected with sleep apnea.

Snoring is a loud sound made by a person during sleep. The vibration of the tissues in the air passage causes the sound. Snoring tends to increase when a person sleeps on his back. Snoring is usually caused when you grow old because the throat muscles become weak and they cause the nearby tissues to sag and vibrate. Snoring is a symptom of sleep apnea or a cause of apnea, but snoring is not sleep apnea. Mild snoring can be cured by regular exercise, avoiding steroids and getting a good amount of sleep.

Heavy snoring can be cured by Uvulo palato pharyngo plasty (UPPP) where the sagging muscles are tightened. It can also be treated with the help of thermal Ablation PlatoPlasty. The treatment differs from person to person and is decided upon by the intensity to which snoring has affected him.

Sleep Apnea is the cessation of breath due to obstruction of the nasal passage. It requires the person to wake up to resume breathing. A person with sleep apnea wakes up a number of times during his sleep but he does not remember anything about it.

Apnea maybe caused due to a stroke, brain infection or a chronic respiratory problem. Its symptoms include a dip in concentration levels, mood swings, tiresomeness, headaches and drying up of the mouth. Sleep apnea can be cured by treatments like Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), Variable Positive Airway Pressure (VPAP) and Automatic Positive Airway Pressure (APAP).

Any treatment can be effective only if the ailment is detected early. Apnea has caused premature deaths too. People who snore regularly must check if they have sleep apnea. It?s better late than never.