Sudden infant death syndrome is sometimes theorized to be attributable to sleep apnea; the recommendation, prevalent since the mid-1980s, of placing infants on their backs rather than their stomachs for sleep represents an attempt to prevent those instances of breathing cessation that are attributable to compressive obstruction. Premature infants with immature brains and reflex systems are at high risk for central sleep apnea syndrome, even if these babies are otherwise healthy. Premature babies who have the syndrome will generally outgrow it as they mature, provided that they receive careful enough monitoring and supportive care during infancy to survive. Because of premature infants propensity toward central apnea, medications that can cause respiratory drive depression are either not given to them or administered to them only under careful monitoring, with equipment for resuscitation immediately available. Such precautions are routinely taken for premature infants after general anesthesia; administration of caffeine has been found not only to aid in maintenance of respiratory function after general anaesthesia but to reduce apnea for preterm infants regardless of context. Diagnosis
A diagnosis of sleep apnea requires determination by a physician. The examination may require a study of an individual in a sleep lab, although the AAST has said a two belt IHT (In Home Test) will replace a PSG for diagnosing obstructive apnea. There, the patient will be monitored while at rest, and the periods when breathing ceases will be measured with respect to length and frequency.
Differential diagnosis
Although central and obstructive sleep apnea have some signs and symptoms in common, others are present in one but absent in another, enabling differential diagnosis as between the two types:Signs and symptoms of sleep apnea generally

Signs:Observed breathing pauses during sleep
High carbon-dioxide saturation of blood, especially just before awakenings during which a patient experiences urgent need to breathe (see "Symptoms" below)
Low oxygen saturation of blood
Heart rate increase (response to both hypercapnia and hypoxemia/hypoxia), unless there also exist problems with the heart muscle itself or the autonomic nervous system severe enough to make this compensatory increase impossibleSymptoms:High frequency of urgent need to breathe upon awakening (symptom created by hypercapnia), especially among subset of awakenings occurring at times other than normal for an individuals sleep schedule and circadian rhythmsSigns and symptoms of central sleep apnea

Signs:Lack of abdominal and thoracic movement for 10 seconds or longer during sleep and coincident with breathing pausesSymptoms:Inability, either complete or without excessive effort, to voluntarily operate diaphragm and other thoracic muscles upon awakeningThe combination of this symptom with a high frequency of urgent need to breathe upon awakening is especially specific in that the co-presence of the latter symptom differentiates central sleep apneas presentation from that of sleep paralysis generally.Signs and symptoms of and conditions associated with obstructive sleep apnea
Signs:Observably ineffective respiratory movements (observable lack of air flow despite observable muscle movements indicating efforts to breathe)
Snoring (high-sensitivity but low-specificity)
Observably dry mouth or throat (high-sensitivity but low-specificity)Symptoms:Sleepiness, fatigue, or tiredness, often rising to the level of excessive daytime sleepiness
Frequent feelings of choking (airway and/or lung compression), as distinguished from mere feeling of suffocation nonspecific with respect to presence/absence of pressure, upon awakeningAssociated conditions:Opioid medication use
Large neck circumference (>16" for females, > 17" for males) (frequent causal factor and possible indirect symptom; see "Obesity" below)
Obesity (frequent causal factor and possible, albeit low-specificity, sign both direct and indirect): Obesity frequently involves accumulation of fat below the chin and around the neck, depressing the trachea when one is in the supine position, and central obesity can, depending on an individuals fat distribution, lead to increased direct pressure on the thoracic cavity and/or compressive anterior (headward) displacement of the abdominal organs, in the second case reducing space for and increasing difficulty of the motion of the diaphragm.