Individuals who practiced blowing by a conch shell commonly for six months skilled a discount of their signs of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), based on a small randomized managed trial printed in ERJ Open Analysis.
OSA is a standard sleep problem the place respiration repeatedly stops in the course of the night time as a result of a blocked airway. It results in loud loud night breathing, stressed sleep and daytime sleepiness. It additionally will increase the chance of hypertension, coronary heart illness, and stroke.
Blowing the conch shell, or shankh blowing, has been a part of Indian tradition for 1000’s of years. The brand new analysis confirmed that folks with average OSA who practiced shankh blowing slept higher, felt extra alert in the course of the day and had fewer respiration interruptions at night time. The researchers say conch blowing is an easy, low-cost intervention that would assist scale back signs with out the necessity for medicine or machines.
The examine was led by Dr. Krishna Ok Sharma from the Everlasting Coronary heart Care Centre and Analysis Institute in Jaipur, India. He stated, “The customary therapy for OSA is a steady optimistic airway stress machine, or CPAP, which retains the affected person’s airway open by blowing air by a facemask all through the night time. Whereas efficient, many sufferers discover it uncomfortable and wrestle to make use of it constantly.
“In my scientific observe, a number of sufferers reported feeling extra rested and experiencing fewer signs after commonly training shankh blowing—a conventional yogic respiration train involving exhaling by a conch shell. These observations led us to design a scientific examine to carefully check whether or not this easy, historic observe might function a significant remedy for individuals with OSA.”
The examine included 30 individuals with average OSA, aged between 19 and 65, who had been assessed on the Everlasting Coronary heart Care Centre and Analysis Institute between Might 2022 and January 2024. They had been examined with polysomnography, which means they’re monitored all through an evening’s sleep, and requested questions in regards to the high quality of their sleep and the way sleepy they really feel in the course of the day.
They had been randomly assigned to both be educated to observe blowing by a conch shell (16 sufferers) or to observe a deep respiration train (14 sufferers). Members had been supplied with a conventional shankh utilized in yogic practices. They had been educated in individual on the clinic by a examine workforce member earlier than starting home-based observe. Members had been inspired to observe at residence for no less than quarter-hour, 5 days per week. After six months, the sufferers had been reassessed.
In comparison with the individuals who practiced deep respiration, the individuals who practiced shankh blowing had been 34% much less sleepy in the course of the daytime. They reported sleeping higher and polysomnography revealed that that they had 4 to 5 fewer apneas (the place respiration stops throughout sleep) per hour on common. In addition they had increased ranges of oxygen of their blood in the course of the night time.
Dr. Sharma stated, “The way in which the shankh is blown is kind of distinctive. It includes a deep inhalation adopted by a forceful, sustained exhalation by tightly pursed lips. This motion creates sturdy vibrations and airflow resistance, which seemingly strengthens the muscular tissues of the higher airway, together with the throat and taste bud—areas that always collapse throughout sleep in individuals with OSA. The shankh’s distinctive spiraling construction can also contribute to particular acoustic and mechanical results that additional stimulate and tone these muscular tissues.
“For individuals dwelling with OSA, particularly those that discover CPAP uncomfortable, unaffordable, or inaccessible, our findings supply a promising different. Shankh blowing is an easy, low-cost respiration approach that would assist enhance sleep and scale back signs with out the necessity for machines or medicine.
“This can be a small examine, however we are actually planning a bigger trial involving a number of hospitals. This subsequent section will permit us to validate and increase on our findings in a broader, extra various inhabitants and assess how shankh blowing performs over longer durations.
“We additionally wish to examine how this observe impacts airway muscle tone, oxygen ranges and sleep in larger element. We’re notably excited by evaluating shankh blowing with customary therapies like CPAP, and in inspecting its potential assist in extra extreme types of OSA.”
Professor Sophia Schiza, Head of the ERS group on sleep-disordered respiration, primarily based on the College of Crete, Greece, who was not concerned within the analysis, stated, “Obstructive sleep apnea is a standard illness world wide. We all know that OSA sufferers have poor high quality of sleep, and better dangers of hypertension, strokes and coronary heart illness. A proportion of sufferers expertise sleepiness in the course of the day. Whereas CPAP and different therapies can be found primarily based on cautious prognosis of illness severity, there may be nonetheless want for brand new therapies.
“That is an intriguing examine that exhibits the traditional observe of shankh blowing might doubtlessly supply an OSA therapy for chosen sufferers by focusing on muscle coaching. A bigger examine will assist present extra proof for this intervention which could possibly be of profit as a therapy choice or together with different therapies in chosen OSA sufferers.”
Extra data:
Efficacy of blowing shankh on average sleep apnea: a randomised management trial, ERJ Open Analysis (2025). DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00258-2025
Offered by
European Respiratory Society
Quotation:
Historical observe of blowing by a conch shell might assist deal with harmful loud night breathing situation (2025, August 10)
retrieved 10 August 2025
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