Didgeridoo linked to sleep apnoea cure
Friday Dec 23 21:03 AEDT
Didgeridoo sales may be about to boom after a European study found the instrument can cure the dangerous condition of sleep apnoea.
Swiss researchers have discovered that playing the Aboriginal instrument reduces snoring and daytime sleepiness for those with obstructive sleep apnoea.
The condition occurs when the airway is obstructed during sleep, and results in the sufferer gasping for breath, snoring loudly, snorting and constantly waking up.
It carries an increased risk of stroke, heart attacks and high blood pressure.
Swiss experts, after hearing anecdotal reports of how playing the didgeridoo reduced snoring, decided to study how it could be applied clinically.
They studied 25 patients with moderate obstructive sleep apnoea and two with a snoring problem.
Half the group were given didgeridoo lessons and asked to practise playing daily at home for four months.
The other half were told they were on a waiting list for lessons.
Daytime sleepiness and apnoea scores improved significantly in the didgeridoo group, the British Medical Journal reported.
Partners of patients playing the didgeridoo also reported much less sleep disturbance.
"Larger trials are needed to confirm our preliminary findings, but our results may give hope to the many people with moderate obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome and snoring, as well as to their partners," said the researchers, led by Dr Otto Braendii, from the Zuercher Hoehenklinik Wald hospital in Faltigberg-Wald.
Playing the didgeridoo requires a controlled breathing pattern, and researchers believe it helps to train the upper airways to combat the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnoea.
©AAP 2005
