DOES DIGERIDOO PLAYING FIGHT SLEEP APNEA?

Didgeridoo Playing Improves Your Sleep

ScienceDaily (Dec. 24, 2005) " Regular didgeridoo playing reduces snoring and daytime sleepiness, finds a study published online by the British Medical Journal.


Snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome are common sleep disorders caused by the collapse of the upper airways. Continuous positive airway pressure therapy is effective, but is not suitable for many patients.

Reports of didgeridoo players experiencing reduced daytime sleepiness and snoring after practising, led experts in Switzerland to test the theory that training of the upper airways by didgeridoo playing can improve these disorders.

They identified 25 patients with moderate obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome and who complained about snoring. Patients were randomly allocated to an intervention group (didgeridoo lessons and daily practice at home for four months) or a control group (remained on a waiting list for lessons).

Compared with the control group, daytime sleepiness and apnoea scores improved significantly in the didgeridoo group. Partners of patients in the didgeridoo group also reported much less sleep disturbance.

Although overall quality of sleep did not differ significantly between groups, a combined analysis of sleep related measures showed a moderate to large effect of didgeridoo playing.

The authors conclude that regular training of the upper airways by didgeridoo playing reduces daytime sleepiness and snoring in people with moderate obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome and also improves the sleep quality of partners.

"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," they say.

...........Most medical experts have long assumed that exercises would have little effect on the sleep disorder - and CPAP was the best treatment available.

But the Brazilian researchers were intrigued by a recent experiment that showed playing the didgeridoo, an Australian aboriginal wind instrument, seemed to help.

So the researchers, led by Geraldo Lorenzi-Filho of the University of Sao Paulo's medical school, recruited 31 patients recently diagnosed with mild to moderate sleep apnea in order to evaluate a series of exercises normally used for treating speech disorders.

About half of them were given tongue and throat exercises, while the others served as a control group. After three months, 10 of the 16 patients in the treatment group were reclassified as having just mild apnea or no apnea. What's more, neck circumference decreased by an average of 1.1 centimetres in this group, indicating that airway muscles had been significantly altered. There was no improvement in the control group.

"We think the exercises changed the tone of the upper airway muscles," making them less prone to collapse while asleep, said Dr. Lorenzi-Filho, whose findings were published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Other experts are surprised by the results and not yet convinced the exercises will work. "I think future studies will need to tease out the specific benefits of the different exercises," said Catriona Steele, a research scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute.

Dr. Lorenzi-Filho agreed more study is needed before an exercise program is available for treating sleep apnea. Those who took part in the study did many different exercises "and we don't exactly know which ones work," he said.

And he emphasized that exercises can only go so far in reversing sleep apnea. That means such a treatment would likely be an option only for mild to moderate sleep apnea cases. Those with a severe condition will probably have to keep using CPAP,,,,,,,,,,,,,

You sure? I thought a digeridoo was a cute little thing that bounced around on its hind legs.