Credit score: Unsplash/CC0 Public Area
Individuals who practiced blowing by a conch shell repeatedly for six months skilled a discount of their signs of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), in accordance with a small randomized managed trial revealed in ERJ Open Analysis.
OSA is a typical sleep problem the place respiratory repeatedly stops through 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 hundreds of years. The brand new analysis confirmed that individuals with reasonable OSA who practiced shankh blowing slept higher, felt extra alert through the day and had fewer respiratory interruptions at night time. The researchers say conch blowing is a straightforward, low-cost intervention that would assist cut back signs with out the necessity for remedy 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 usual therapy for OSA is a steady optimistic airway strain 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 battle to make use of it constantly.
“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. 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.”
The examine included 30 individuals with reasonable OSA, aged between 19 and 65, who had been assessed on the Everlasting Coronary heart Care Centre and Analysis Institute between Could 2022 and January 2024. They had been examined with polysomnography, which means they’re monitored all through an evening’s sleep, and requested questions concerning the high quality of their sleep and the way sleepy they really feel through the day.
They had been randomly assigned to both be skilled to follow blowing by a conch shell (16 sufferers) or to follow a deep respiratory train (14 sufferers). Individuals had been supplied with a conventional shankh utilized in yogic practices. They had been skilled in particular person on the clinic by a examine staff member earlier than starting home-based follow. Individuals had been inspired to follow at house 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 respiratory, the individuals who practiced shankh blowing had been 34% much less sleepy through the daytime. They reported sleeping higher and polysomnography revealed that they’d 4 to 5 fewer apneas (the place respiratory stops throughout sleep) per hour on common. In addition they had greater ranges of oxygen of their blood through the night time.
Dr. Sharma stated, “The best way the shankh is blown is sort of distinctive. It entails a deep inhalation adopted by a forceful, sustained exhalation by tightly pursed lips. This motion creates robust vibrations and airflow resistance, which possible strengthens the muscle tissue of the higher airway, together with the throat and taste bud—areas that usually 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 muscle tissue.
“For individuals residing with OSA, particularly those that discover CPAP uncomfortable, unaffordable, or inaccessible, our findings supply a promising various. Shankh blowing is a straightforward, low-cost respiratory method that would assist enhance sleep and cut back signs with out the necessity for machines or remedy.
“This can be a small examine, however we at the moment are planning a bigger trial involving a number of hospitals. This subsequent part will enable us to validate and develop on our findings in a broader, extra numerous inhabitants and assess how shankh blowing performs over longer intervals.
“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.”
Professor Sophia Schiza, Head of the ERS group on sleep-disordered respiratory, primarily based on the College of Crete, Greece, who was not concerned within the analysis, stated, “Obstructive sleep apnea is a typical illness all over the world. 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 through the day. Whereas CPAP and different therapies can be found primarily based on cautious prognosis of illness severity, there’s nonetheless want for brand new therapies.
“This is an intriguing study that shows the ancient practice of shankh blowing could potentially offer an OSA treatment for selected patients by targeting muscle 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.”
Extra data:
Efficacy of blowing shankh on reasonable sleep apnea: a randomised management trial, ERJ Open Analysis (2025). DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00258-2025
Offered by
European Respiratory Society
Quotation:
Historic follow of blowing by a conch shell might assist deal with harmful loud night breathing situation (2025, August 10)
retrieved 10 August 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-08-ancient-conch-shell-dangerous-condition.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Aside from any honest dealing for the aim of personal examine or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is offered for data functions solely.
