Ancient ritual of blowing into shell ‘could help with common sleep disorder'
The practice of conch blowing, also known as shankh blowing, could improve sleep for patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) without the need for uncomfortable machinery, according to researchers.
Shankh blowing involves breathing in deeply before exhaling forcefully into a conch, the spiral-shaped shell from a species of sea snail.
The small trial, led by researchers in India, involved 30 people aged with 19 and 65 with OSA.
OSA happens with the walls of the throat relax and narrow or close, with symptoms including choking noises, loud snoring and waking up a lot.
The condition is thought to impact about eight million people in the UK.
For the trial, 16 people were provided with a traditional shankh used in yogic practices and trained in how to use it properly before taking it home, while the remaining 14 people were asked to carry out deep breathing exercises.
Both groups were encouraged to practice for a minimum of 15 minutes five days a week.
They were monitored during sleep and asked questions about sleep quality and how tired they felt during the day.
After six months, the study found those who practised shankh blowing reported sleeping better and were 34% less sleepy during the day.
They also had higher levels of oxygen in the blood during the night and had four to five fewer apnoeas, where breathing stops during sleep, per hour on average.
They also had higher levels of oxygen in their blood during the night.
Dr Krishna K Sharma, of the Eternal Heart Care Centre and Research Institute in Jaipur, India, said: 'The way the shankh is blown is quite distinctive.
'It involves a deep inhalation followed by a forceful, sustained exhalation through tightly pursed lips.
'This action creates strong vibrations and airflow resistance, which likely strengthens the muscles of the upper airway, including the throat and soft palate, areas that often collapse during sleep in people with OSA.
'The shankh's unique spiralling structure may also contribute to specific acoustic and mechanical effects that further stimulate and tone these muscles.'
Continuous positive airway pressure (Cpap) machines are the first line of treatment for OSA.
They involve patients wearing a mask that blows pressurised air into the nose and throat while they sleep.
However, they can be uncomfortable.
Speaking of Cpap, Dr Sharma said: 'While effective, many patients find it uncomfortable and struggle to use it consistently.'
He suggests shankh blowing could be a 'promising alternative'.
'Shankh blowing is a simple low-cost, breathing technique that could help improve sleep and reduce symptoms without the need for machines or medication,' Dr Sharma said.
Researchers are now planning a larger trial involving several hospitals.
Dr Sharma added: 'This next phase will allow us to validate and expand on our findings in a broader, more diverse population and assess how shankh blowing performs over longer periods.
'We also want to study how this practice affects airway muscle tone, oxygen levels and sleep in greater detail.
'We're particularly interested in comparing shankh blowing with standard treatments like Cpap, and in examining its potential help in more severe forms of OSA.'
Reacting to the findings, Professor Sophia Schiza, head of the ERS group on sleep disordered breathing, based at the University of Crete, Greece, said: 'We know that OSA patients have poor quality of sleep, and higher risks of high blood pressure, strokes and heart disease.
'A proportion of patients experience sleepiness during the day.
'While Cpap and other treatments are available based on careful diagnosis of disease severity, there is still need for new treatments.
'This is an intriguing study that shows the ancient practice of shankh blowing could potentially offer an OSA treatment for selected patients by targeting muscles training.
'A larger study will help provide more evidence for this intervention which could be of benefit as a treatment option or in combination with other treatments in selected OSA patients.'
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Researchers suggest conch shell blowing as sleep apnea treatment
Regularly blowing through a conch shell for six months significantly improved sleep among a small group of people with sleep apnea, researchers in India found. Photo by Kitreel/Adobe Stock/HealthDay News Want to ease your sleep apnea and get a better night's sleep? Blow through a conch shell, a new pilot clinical trial says. Regularly blowing through a conch shell for six months, like Disney princess Moana or Anchorman legend Ron Burgundy, significantly improved sleep among a small group of people with sleep apnea. Patients blowing a conch slept better, felt more alert during the day and had fewer breathing interruptions at night, researchers reported. Conch blowing might prove a reasonable alternative to using a continuous positive air pressure machine, in which a face mask blows air to keep a patient's airways open while sleeping, said lead researcher Dr. Krishna Sharma, director and head of pulmonology at the Eternal Heart Care Center and Research Institute in Jaipur, India. While CPAP is the gold standard treatment for sleep apnea, many patients find it uncomfortable and noisy. "For people living with obstructive sleep apnea, especially those who find CPAP uncomfortable, unaffordable, or inaccessible, our findings offer a promising alternative," Sharma said in a news release. "[Conch] blowing is a simple low-cost, breathing technique that could help improve sleep and reduce symptoms without the need for machines or medication." Blowing a conch shell, also called shankh blowing, has been part of Indian culture for thousands of years, he explained. "In my clinical practice, several patients reported feeling more rested and experiencing fewer symptoms after regularly practicing shankh blowing - a traditional yogic breathing exercise involving exhaling through a conch shell," Sharma said. Based on these anecdotes, Sharma and colleagues designed a small clinical trial to see if the simple, ancient practice might help people with sleep apnea. In sleep apnea, a person stops breathing repeatedly during the night because their airway collapses, causing them to wake. Sleep apnea patients often snore loudly, and have a higher risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Researchers think conch blowing might help by exercising the muscles of the airway. "The way the shankh is blown is quite distinctive. It involves a deep inhalation followed by a forceful, sustained exhalation through tightly pursed lips," Sharma said. "This action creates strong vibrations and airflow resistance, which likely strengthens the muscles of the upper airway, including the throat and soft palate -- areas that often collapse during sleep in people with obstructive sleep apnea," he continued. "The shankh's unique spiraling structure may also contribute to specific acoustic and mechanical effects that further stimulate and tone these muscles." Researchers recruited 30 people with moderate sleep apnea and randomly assigned 16 to practice blowing through a conch shell. The other 14 were taught a deep breathing exercise. All participants were encouraged to practice either conch blowing or deep breathing for a minimum of 15 minutes a day, five days a week. After six months, the people armed with conch shells were 34% less sleepy during the daytime than those practicing deep breathing, results show. They also reported better sleep. Sleep lab tests showed that those blowing a conch shell experienced on average four to five fewer episodes during the night in which they breathing stopped during sleep, as well as higher oxygen levels during sleep. "This is a small study, but we are now planning a larger trial involving several hospitals," Sharma said. "This next phase will allow us to validate and expand on our findings in a broader, more diverse population and assess how shankh blowing performs over longer periods." Future studies also will test to see how conch blowing affects the muscle tone of the airways, and compare the practice directly against standard treatments like CPAP, Sharma said. Sophia Schiza, head of the European Respiratory Society's group on sleep-disordered breathing, reviewed the findings. She said conch blowing might fill a need for more treatments for sleep apnea. "This is an intriguing study that shows the ancient practice of shankh blowing could potentially offer an obstructive sleep apnea treatment for selected patients by targeting muscles training," Schiza said in a news release. "A larger study will help provide more evidence for this intervention which could be of benefit as a treatment option or in combination with other treatments in selected obstructive sleep apnea patients," added Schiza, a professor of pulmonology and sleep disorders at the University of Crete in Greece. The new study appears in the journal ERJ Open Research. More information Johns Hopkins Medicine has more on sleep apnea. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
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This ancient Indian seashell trick can help with sleep apnea — and reduce snoring
Shell shock! Nearly 54 million US adults are believed to suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which occurs when muscles in your throat relax and repeatedly block your airway, causing you to stop breathing as you sleep. Besides disrupted sleep and snoring, OSA can raise the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, stroke and car crashes. 'The standard treatment for OSA is a continuous positive airway pressure machine, or CPAP, which keeps the patient's airway open by blowing air through a facemask throughout the night,' said Dr. Krishna K. Sharma from the Eternal Heart Care Centre and Research Institute in Jaipur, India. 'While effective, many patients find it uncomfortable and struggle to use it consistently.' Sharma is conch-fident that an ancient Indian practice known as shankh blowing can ease OSA symptoms without the hassle of a costly machine. He led a small study that reported that OSA patients who regularly blew into a conch for six months had fewer breathing interruptions at night and more alertness during the day. 'In my clinical practice, several patients reported feeling more rested and experiencing fewer symptoms after regularly practicing shankh blowing — a traditional yogic breathing exercise involving exhaling through a conch shell,' Sharma said. 'These observations led us to design a scientific study to rigorously test whether this simple, ancient practice could serve as a meaningful therapy for people with OSA.' Thirty people between 19 and 65 years old were divided into two groups — 16 blew through a conch shell while 14 engaged in a deep breathing exercise. The conch group underwent training and daily practice sessions at home before the study commenced. Eternal Heart tracked the participants, who had moderate OSA, from May 2022 to January 2024. They were monitored while sleeping and asked about their sleep quality and daytime sleepiness. After six months, the conch group was 34% less sleepy during the daytime than the deep breathing group. Medical testing showed that the conch group participants had an average of four or five fewer episodes where their breathing stopped during sleep. They also had higher levels of oxygen in their blood at night. The conch-lusions were published this week in the ERJ Open Research journal. 'For people living with OSA, especially those who find CPAP uncomfortable, unaffordable or inaccessible, our findings offer a promising alternative,' Sharma said. 'Shankh blowing is a simple, low-cost breathing technique that could help improve sleep and reduce symptoms without the need for machines or medication.' Blowing shankhs can cost anywhere from $20 to over $100. The theory is that shankh blowing strengthens muscles crucial to maintaining an open airway during sleep. Dr. Sophia Schiza — a professor of respiratory and sleep medicine at the University of Crete in Greece and head of the European Respiratory Society group on sleep-disordered breathing — called it an 'intriguing study.' 'A larger study will help provide more evidence for this intervention, which could be of benefit as a treatment option or in combination with other treatments in selected OSA patients,' said Schiza, who was not involved in this research. Sharma is planning a larger trial involving several hospitals, a longer study period and more severe forms of OSA. The team wants to further explore how shankh blowing affects airway muscle tone, oxygen levels and sleep and compare it against treatments like CPAP. Losing weight, exercising and abstaining from alcohol can also help OSA, along with oral devices, a different sleep position and surgery in severe cases. Solve the daily Crossword
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Ancient ritual of blowing into shell ‘could help with common sleep disorder'
An ancient ritual which involves blowing into a large shell could tackle the symptoms of a common sleep disorder, a study suggests. The practice of conch blowing, also known as shankh blowing, could improve sleep for patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) without the need for uncomfortable machinery, according to researchers. Shankh blowing involves breathing in deeply before exhaling forcefully into a conch, the spiral-shaped shell from a species of sea snail. The small trial, led by researchers in India, involved 30 people aged with 19 and 65 with OSA. OSA happens with the walls of the throat relax and narrow or close, with symptoms including choking noises, loud snoring and waking up a lot. The condition is thought to impact about eight million people in the UK. For the trial, 16 people were provided with a traditional shankh used in yogic practices and trained in how to use it properly before taking it home, while the remaining 14 people were asked to carry out deep breathing exercises. Both groups were encouraged to practice for a minimum of 15 minutes five days a week. They were monitored during sleep and asked questions about sleep quality and how tired they felt during the day. After six months, the study found those who practised shankh blowing reported sleeping better and were 34% less sleepy during the day. They also had higher levels of oxygen in the blood during the night and had four to five fewer apnoeas, where breathing stops during sleep, per hour on average. They also had higher levels of oxygen in their blood during the night. Dr Krishna K Sharma, of the Eternal Heart Care Centre and Research Institute in Jaipur, India, said: 'The way the shankh is blown is quite distinctive. 'It involves a deep inhalation followed by a forceful, sustained exhalation through tightly pursed lips. 'This action creates strong vibrations and airflow resistance, which likely strengthens the muscles of the upper airway, including the throat and soft palate, areas that often collapse during sleep in people with OSA. 'The shankh's unique spiralling structure may also contribute to specific acoustic and mechanical effects that further stimulate and tone these muscles.' Continuous positive airway pressure (Cpap) machines are the first line of treatment for OSA. They involve patients wearing a mask that blows pressurised air into the nose and throat while they sleep. However, they can be uncomfortable. Speaking of Cpap, Dr Sharma said: 'While effective, many patients find it uncomfortable and struggle to use it consistently.' He suggests shankh blowing could be a 'promising alternative'. 'Shankh blowing is a simple low-cost, breathing technique that could help improve sleep and reduce symptoms without the need for machines or medication,' Dr Sharma said. Researchers are now planning a larger trial involving several hospitals. Dr Sharma added: 'This next phase will allow us to validate and expand on our findings in a broader, more diverse population and assess how shankh blowing performs over longer periods. 'We also want to study how this practice affects airway muscle tone, oxygen levels and sleep in greater detail. 'We're particularly interested in comparing shankh blowing with standard treatments like Cpap, and in examining its potential help in more severe forms of OSA.' Reacting to the findings, Professor Sophia Schiza, head of the ERS group on sleep disordered breathing, based at the University of Crete, Greece, said: 'We know that OSA patients have poor quality of sleep, and higher risks of high blood pressure, strokes and heart disease. 'A proportion of patients experience sleepiness during the day. 'While Cpap and other treatments are available based on careful diagnosis of disease severity, there is still need for new treatments. 'This is an intriguing study that shows the ancient practice of shankh blowing could potentially offer an OSA treatment for selected patients by targeting muscles training. 'A larger study will help provide more evidence for this intervention which could be of benefit as a treatment option or in combination with other treatments in selected OSA patients.'
