Didgeridoo and sleep apnea
Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 9:23 pm
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_16 ... ddiscovery
Playing a didgeridoo can help sleep according to researchers.
Swiss researchers from the Zurercher Hoehenklinik Wald hospital in Sweden found using the instrument for 25 minutes a day helped people with sleep apnoea, the British Medical Journal reported.
The disorder causes the throat to close and breathing to stop, waking the patient, but playing the instrument helped by strengthening the airways.
UK experts said such exercising of the airways was known to help.
About 5% of the population has the syndrome, which can cause people to wake up during the night.
Doctors normally advise sufferers to lose weight reports BBC online.
The team identified 25 people with sleep apnoea and split them into two groups - one which was given lessons for four months, while the other was kept on a waiting list for lessons.
Patients who had lessons reported less sleepiness during the day and their partners said there were less disturbances.
Lead researcher Otto Braendli said larger trials were needed to confirm the findings.
He said: "Our results are the first to show that training the upper airways significantly improves sleep related outcomes."