Ancient shell, modern relief: How blowing a conch could help sleep apnea

Watch Ancient shell, modern relief: How blowing a conch could help sleep apnea - Straight Arrow News on Dailymotion

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00:00for many sleep is a battlefield of snoring gas and exhaustion but Indian researchers may have

00:13found a solution that doesn't involve a noisy CPAP machine but rather a centuries-old yoga

00:19ritual with a conch shell researchers based in Jaipur India enlisted 30 adults aged 19 to 65

00:28with moderate obstructive sleep apnea also known as OSA half were taught to perform shock blowing

00:35exhaling forcefully through a conch shell for 15 minutes a day five days a week while the others

00:41practice standard deep breathing techniques by the end of the study the conch blowing group enjoyed

00:46striking improvements participants reported a 34% reduction in daytime sleepiness they had four to

00:54five fewer apnea episodes per hour of sleep overnight oxygen levels improved contributing

01:00to better overall sleep quality and apnea events during REM sleep decreased by 21.8 percent the

01:07act of inhaling deeply then exhaling forcefully creating vibration and airflow resistance appears

01:13to tone the throat and soft palate muscles helping keep airways open during sleep the appeal of shock

01:20blowing lies in its simplicity unlike CPAP machines which are effective but often uncomfortable and

01:26costly this method is inexpensive portable and culturally rooted Dr. Krishna K Sharma who led the research says

01:34the way the shock is blown is quite distinctive this action creates strong vibrations and airflow resistance

01:40which likely strengthens the muscles of the upper airway including the throat and soft palate areas that

01:47often collapse during sleep in people with osa despite researchers optimism experts express caution warning the

01:54study sample size was small and the design open label which can introduce bias but the researchers are

02:01already planning a larger multi-hospital trial to validate results across diverse populations that trial will

02:08compare shock blowing directly with CPAP and other standard treatments for more of our unbiased straight fact

02:14reporting download the shader news app today or log on to san.com for straight arrow news I'm Kaylee Carey