Vibrations of soft tissues located at the back of our throats cause the noisy, annoying sounds of snoring that sometimes prevent non-snorers from getting their ZZZZs.

The palate, uvula and tonsils are the tissue structures that flap against each other when someone has too much tissue at the back of their mouth or when an obstruction is blocking the air passageway to the back of the throat.

People with snoring problems tend to have one of the following conditions:

• Poor muscle tone in the tongue and throat
• Excessive bulkiness of throat tissue
• Long soft palate and/or uvula tissue in the back of the mouth
• Obstructed nasal airways

Snoring can be a serious medical problem because it disturbs sleeping patterns and deprives the snorer of necessary rest.

When something makes a noise, it sends vibrations, or sound waves, through the air.

The human eardrum is a stretched membrane, like the skin of a drum. When the sound waves hit your eardrum, it vibrates and the brain interprets these vibrations as sound.

Actually, as most things having to do with the human body, it is a little more complicated than that.

After the vibrations hit your eardrum, a chain reaction is set off. Your eardrum, which is smaller and thinner than the nail on your pinky finger, sends the vibrations to the three smallest bones in your body. First the hammer, then the anvil, and finally, the stirrup. The stirrup passes those vibrations along a coiled tub in the inner ear called the cochlea.

Inside the cochlea there are thousands of hair-like nerve endings, cilia. When the Cochlea vibrates, the cilia move. Your brain is sent these messages (translated from vibrations by the cilia) through the auditory nerve.

Your brain then translates all that and tells you what you are hearing. Neurologists don't yet fully understand how we process raw sound data once it enters the cerebral cortex in the brain.

Specialized receptor cells of the olfactory epithelium detect and recognize smells.

Your nose is a huge cavity built to smell, moisten, and filter the air you breathe. When you breathe in, the tiny hairs, called cilia, act like a broom and filter everything trying to get into your nose; from dust particles to bugs.

The air passes through the nasal cavity and though a thick layer of mucous to the olfactory bulb. The smells are recognized here because each smell molecule fits into a nerve cell like a puzzle piece. The cells then send signals to the brain via the olfactory nerve. The brain then interprets those molecules as the sweet flowers, or the curdling milk that you've held up to your nose.

Humans can detect over 10,000 different smells. The olfactory nerve picks up the scents from the air you breathe and translate them into nerve impulses or messages that are then sent to the olfactory bulb located in the front of the brain.

Actually, how and why we smell is still inadequately known. There are many theories about the exact process of our sense of smell. Most believe that it is highly specialized processes in which molecular rings and receptors invite odorant-bringing proteins. It is a very complicate, intricately detailed, and mysteriously misunderstood system, our sense of smell.

To oil, lube, and filter the eyes.

Blinking, as opposed to batting, our eyes automatically supplies two forms of moisture to our eyes, to keep them from drying out, and to keep foreign matter from entering and irritating our eyes. Eyelids themselves, our built-in "wind-shield wipers," are merely folds of skin, controlled by muscles capable of expanding and contracting so rapidly, that blinking does not impair our vision. Mother Nature lined the rims of our eyelids with 20-30 sebaceous, oil-producing glands, which are located between our eyelashes, and are invisible to the naked eye. Blinking automatically coats the eyelid and eyelashes with the lubricant it secretes, to prevent them from drying out.

Blinking also protects the eye from dryness by irrigating, not by irritating, the eye, The eyelid, through suction, automatically draws the fluid we cry with from the well we refer to as the tear duct over the eyeball, to irrigate, and to moisturize the eye. The process is similar to the manner in which the farmer uses water to irrigate his crops during a dry spell.

Yet another benefit of blinking, is to shield the eye from foreign bodies. Our eyelashes, short, curved, hairs, attached to the eyelids, serve as dust-catchers, as the blinking reflex causes them automatically to lower, when exposed to harsh elements. Nature endowed the camel with extraordinarily long, curly, eyelashes, to protect his eyes from sudden sandstorms in the desert. Incidentally, the "camel eyelash" look is one many women attempt to duplicate by using an eyelash curler! Eyebrows, by the way, also serve their purpose, as they catch the run-off perspiration produces.

The reasons we laugh, including "contagious" laughter, may be products of evolution.

Natural laughter is a two-part, spontaneous, response to humor, that has physiological, psychological, and physical benefits.

Most agree that we laugh when we find something to be humorous, yet different reasons exist for what we find to be humorous. Additionally, different things are humorous to us at different stages of life.

Laughter, a physiological response to humor, can be broken down into two parts.

The first is a set of gestures, and the second is the production of sound. The brain forces to conduct both responses simultaneously. From a physiological standpoint, a "sensor" in the brain responds to laughter by triggering other neural circuits in the brain, which, in turn, generate more laughter.

Oddly enough, laughter is an orderly response, and almost occurs "spontaneously" during pauses at the end of phrases, earning it the name the punctuation effect. Human beings are the only species capable of laughter, and the average adult does so approximately 17 times per day.

Good health is one of the many benefits of laughter. Laughter reduces our stress levels by reducing the level of stress hormones, and also helps us cope with serious illnesses.

Physiologically, laughter promotes healing, by lowering the blood pressure, and by increasing the vascular blood flow and the oxygenation of the blood.

Two different schools of thought exist as to why we dream: the physiological school, and the psychological school.

Both, however, agree that we dream during the REM, or rapid eye movement, phase of sleep. During this phase of sleep, our closed eyes dart rapidly about, our brain activity peaks, and our muscles suffer temporary paralysis.

The physiological theory centers upon how our body, specifically our brains, function during the REM phase of sleep. Proponents of this theory believe that we dream to exercise the synapses, or pathways, between brain cells, and that dreaming takes over where the active and awake brain leaves off. When awake, our brains constantly transmit and receive messages, which course through our billions of brain cells to their appropriate destinations, and keep our bodies in perpetual motion. Dreams replace this function.

Two underpinning physiological facts go towards supporting this theory of dreams. The first lies in the fact that the first two or so years of ones life, the most formative ones for learning, are also the ones in which the most REM sleep occurs. It follows that during this time of the greatest REM sleep, we experience the greatest number of dreams. The second physiological fact that lends credence to this theory is that our brain waves during REM sleep, as recorded by machines measuring the brain's electrical activity, are almost identical in nature to the brain waves during the hours we spend awake. This is not the case during the other phases of sleep.

Psychological theorists of dreams focus upon our thoughts and emotions, and speculate that dreams deal with immediate concerns in our lives, such as unfinished business from the day, or concerns we are incapable of handling during the course of the day. Dreams can, in fact, teach us things about ourselves that we are unaware of.

Connections between dreams that the human psyche have been made by many people over thousands of years. The famous Greek philosopher, Aristotle wrote in his "Parva Naturalia," over 2,200 years ago, of a connection between dreams, waking experiences, and emotional needs.

Others have delved into more complicated explanations for dreams, such as the prophetic nature of dreams written of in the Bible, which was and is a belief held by many cultures. Sigmund Freud, one of the fathers of modern psychology, believed dreams to be symbolic of any number of things buried deep within our minds and our memories.

Until someone proves or disproves one of these theories, or poses an alternate one, we are left at square one. Our knowledge as to what causes us to dream is limited to the fact that we do dream, and that dreams occur during the REM phase of sleep. Sweet dreams!

The blood flowing through the arteries, capillaries, and veins of our bodies contains many different materials and cells, each with a different function. Plasma, the liquid portion of the blood, comprises more than half of the blood. Plasma is light yellow in color, and is thicker than water, because it contains many substances, in addition to the actual blood cells. These substances include proteins, antibodies that combat disease, fibrinogen, which helps blood clot, carbohydrates, fats, salts, and others.

Red blood cells, or corpuscles, encased in blood vessels, color the blood. Since there are about 35 trillion of these tiny, round, flat discs circulating in one's body at any one time, their sheer number necessarily lends their red color to the blood.

As the young red blood cell matures, and takes on an adult form in the marrow of the bone, it loses it's nucleus, and it increases its production of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the red pigment, or color of blood, and contains iron, combined with protein.

When blood passes through the lungs, oxygen piggybacks on the hemoglobin of the red cells. From there, the red cells carry the oxygen through the arteries and the capillaries to all other cells of the body. Carbon dioxide from the body cells returns to the lungs through the veins in the same manner, by attaching to the hemoglobin.

Red blood cells have a life expectancy of approximately four months, before they are broken up, primarily in the spleen, and are replaced by new red blood cells. New cells are continuously generated to replace the old cells that have past their prime, and have been destroyed to make room for the younger generation.

Let's not forget that, in addition to red blood cells, we also have several types of white blood cells!

Amnesia is a primitive, self-preservation mechanism, which comes into play when man need to protect himself or herself from some form of severe emotional or physical trauma. Man, subconsciously, blocks out the pain of the emotional or physical trauma, by burying the event or events so deeply that he has no memory of them.

In severe cases, the individual not only loses his or her memory of past, painful events, or periods of time, but also loses his or her identity. He or she believes that the events that led up to this memory loss, occurred to another individual, and assumes a new identity. Though he or she functions within societal boundaries, this individual lives only in the present, and has no recollection of the past.

Recoveries, and recovery times, vary from person to person, and either occur instantaneously, or with the assistance of a psychiatric specialist. The amnesiac, fortunate enough to overcome this condition, however, has no memory of the events that transpired when he or she suffered the memory loss.

One must keep in mind that amnesia uncommon, and is not the "normal" reaction to emotional or physical distress. Common reactions to emotional pain, such as fright, stress, hurt, and anger, are dealt with in ways such as bursting into tears, breaking into a cold sweat, or blushing like a new bride.

Fingernails and toenails grow from a point near the roots below the skin, at the base of the nail where the nail is very thin. White in color, and half-moon in shape, this semi-circle is appropriately named the "lunula," and comprises a group of cells that manufacture keratin, a dead, hoof-like protein. The keratin like protein produced, gathers and merges with the nail plate, the dead armor that protects the soft and tender nail bed underneath, and pushes the entire nail up and out. Though the fingernails and toenails grow an average of two inches per year, their growth slows with age, and the average adult's fingernails grow only one inch over the course of eight months.

The base of the fingernails and toenails, as well as some of the nail along both sides of the nail, are embedded into the skin. Unlike other skin, this skin contains elastic fibers that connect it to the fingernail or toenail, and hold it firmly in place. The cuticle, a rim of skin over the lunula, protects it from bacterial infection, serves as a shock absorber, and shields the nail from any sudden impacts.

Though many consider dressing the fingernails up to go out a statement of beauty, or one of vanity, they serve those in the medical field as a diagnostic tool. Normally, the lunula, or half-moon, is white in color, indicating proper nutrition and good overall health. Blue lunula raise red flags that circulatory problems to the fingers may exist. Nails that are hard, brittle, and tend to split easily, may also be clues to poor circulation, infection, or disturbances of the glandular and nutritional systems.

Further nails that curl sharply around the finger point to coronary, liver, or lung diseases. Nails that are sunken in appearance often indicate anemia, a condition where an insufficient amount of oxygen is carried by the blood.

Tears flow from our eyes when we cry because they contain chemicals and hormones produced by our bodies.

When we become upset, our brains and bodies overreact and work overtime by producing chemicals and hormones.

Crying helps eliminate these extra chemicals that we don't need.

The chemicals and hormones disappear from our body through the form of tears. As our tears flow, they sooth our sadness or distress by withdrawing these chemical agents.

That is why many people feel calmer or more refreshed after crying--because the tears get rid of these hormones that are produced when we are sad, happy, or distressed.

The amount of sleep an individual requires varies from person to person, but most adults average eight hours of sleep.

Sleep plays a vital role in our daily regimen, as during this dormant period, it recharges and rejuvenates weary body organs and tissues, and restores the body to an alert state. A person's lifestyle is another variable in the amount of time he needs to achieve this healthy balance, and to feel well rested upon awakening.

The quality of a person's sleep also factors into the sleep equation. When we drift off to sleep, we either fall into a deep, restful sleep, or into a shallow, light sleep. One who normally requires eight hours of sleep, but sleeps shallowly, will most likely awaken feeling tired. In contrast, if the same individual sleeps fewer hours, but lapses into a state of deep sleep, he may well awaken refreshed and invigorated.

A lucky few can bypass shallow sleep altogether, and fall directly into deep sleep on an as needed basis. Alexander the Great's military prowess may have been due, in part, to his ability to take a "cat nap."

Yet one more variable factors into the amount of sleep we require: that of the brain and of the body sleeping simultaneously. Under normal circumstances, the brain's sleep center blocks off the nerves to the brain and to the body to make sleep possible. The brain has no interest in doing anything, and could not even if it did, because the sleep center has shut down the internal organs, the arms, and the legs. Sometimes, however, the sleep center is unsuccessful in shutting down both the brain and the body at the same time. For example, in times of war, it is not unusual for soldiers suffering from sleep deprivation and from combat fatigue to continue to march, despite the fact that their brains have halted. Thankfully, such a situation is an anomaly, and does not occur with great frequency.