For reducing snoring there are a number of simple suggestions or home remedies. Let’s take a look at some of the options or well loved snoring remedies, in addition to the ubiquitous tennis ball cure. One simple remedy is to elevate your head with pillows or raise the head of your bed several inches. This reduces the chances of the throat muscle completely blocking your air passages when they relax in sleep. Sleep on your side, not on your back, which causes your tongue and soft palate to fall back, narrowing the airway. Other lifestyle changes include exercising more, losing weight and abstaining from alcohol and smoking. You especially should not drink alcohol before going to sleep because alcohol relaxes your throat muscles, thereby blocking your air passages even more. In addition, smoking restricts your air passages and leads to snoring. Finally, you should avoid tranquilizers, sleeping pills, and antihistamines. In addition to such so-called home cures, there are over-the-counter snoring remedies available, including anti-snoring pills, throat sprays, and nasal strips. Anti-snoring pills contain natural plant enzymes and herbs that are said to prevent throat and nose tissue from swelling, resulting in a more open and smoother airflow that helps reduce snoring. Some well loved brands are: Dr. Harris’ Original Snore Formula, Sinus Buster, SnorEase, Snore Rx and Ysnore. Many things can cause a person to snore, such as inheriting a narrow throat; being overweight with fatty tissue in the neck; ageing; gender is a factor, as normally men snore, due to having narrower air passages than women do; adenoids or tonsils being enlarged that obstruct the airway; allergies, asthma, cold or sinus infection will cause breathing problems; sleeping on the back relaxes the throat and will block the airway. Rolling the person over on their side many times will stop the snoring. Serious health problems can result due to reduced oxygen to the brain. Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease are all developing factors of snoring; even premature death can result. Sleep apnea is a common symptom of snoring. The inability to breathe correctly will cause a person to wake up, just so they are able to breathe again. This can happen many times a night with no memory of all the awakenings the next morning. The person will experience a feeling of sleepiness even though the person has had several hours of sleep. To determine if one has sleep apnea, tests can be run to check for this. To determine treatment, the general health of a person has to be taken into consideration. For instance, if someone has heart problems and high blood pressure, a device is worn to improve the breathing and maintain a steady flow of air through the throat and nose. This device is used on patients who have sleep apnea and is not intended for those with simple snoring. Surgery of the nose, throat and jaw help some, but not all people. Over-the-counter treatments have not been researched enough to prove any effective results. But, the external nasal strip placed over the bridge of the nose has shown to reduce snoring. There are also spray lubricants for the throat and nose and magnetic pillows that claim to help with snoring, but tests have shown them to be not much help.