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Jul 25, 2007 10:26 pm US/Mountain
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Study Says Didgeridoo Can Help With Sleep Apnea
by Kathy Walsh
DENVER (CBS4) ―
Who knew? The didgeridoo, the world's oldest wind instrument, may be useful for sleep apnea patients.
About 18 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea, and it's a syndrome that's been hard to treat, according to Dr. Robert Smith with St. Anthony Hospitals in Denver.
The British Medical Journal published a study recently that found that regular didgeridoo playing strengthens the muscles in the back of the throat. That and the deep breathing required help reduce snoring and daytime sleepiness in people with moderate sleep apnea.
He wouldn't make it his first-line treatment, but Smith says he wouldn't discourage a patient with sleep apnea from trying to learn how to play the didgeridoo.
"It's an interesting innovative new approach," he said.
The didgeridoo can be traced back to Australia's Aborigines. Players blow air through the long wooden instrument's hollow center and sustain a low humming noise for many minutes on end while storing breath in the cheeks.
Musician Elianna Krakauer has been playing the didgeridoo for 14 years and says anyone can learn how to play it, even the tonally challenged.
"It's an expression of the body coming out through an instrument," she said.
Krakauer said playing the didgeridoo is certainly a more fun treatment than CPAP therapy, Smith's first-line recommendation for patients. CPAP involves using a nightime breathing machine.
"It's a great alternative to having a machine on your face when you're sleeping," she said.
With sleep apnea, a patient's breathing stops for 10 seconds or more, sometimes more than 300 times a night.
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