Snoring and the disturbance it causes used to be regarded as a joke, about which little could be done. However, we now know that snoring can indicate problems with breathing at night, which may harm the snorer. During sleep all the body's muscles become less active and more floppy. In most parts of the body, this does not matter and indeed helps one to relax and sleep comfortably. When the muscles that help hold open the throat behind the tongue relax, this leads to partial collapse and narrowing in this area.
This increases the resistance to the flow of air when breathing in, but this is usually of no significance. When this narrowing that occurs with sleep is more than normal, then the airway behind the tongue collapses much more. To start with, this causes snoring and then, when the collapse is complete, it causes apnoea, which means "without breath" - actually stopping breathing. Fortunately, the body is able to sense this increased obstruction to breathing (thank goodness it does!) and the sufferer wakes briefly, before suffocation can occur, takes a few deep breaths, followed by a rapid return to sleep.
This obstruction and waking often becomes a continuous cycle, every minute or so, that can go on hundreds of times a night, every night. Usually though, the individual does not remember all these episodes of waking. There are three different types of sleep apnoea: Obstructive (the most common), Central and Mixed, which are rare.