- ALLERGY, RESPIRATORY
- New Spray Could Benefit Cystic Fibrosis Patients
- Using Music and Sports to Improve Kids' Asthma
- 'Safe' Ozone Levels May Not Be for Some
- ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
- Spot light on Dani Antman New Lionheart teacher
- Integrative Medicine and the Future of Pharmacy
- Placebo Acupuncture Tied to Higher IVF Pregnancies
- BONES & JOINTS
- Health Tip: Don't Let Minor Knee Pain Slow You Down
- Cane Use May Cut Progression of Knee Osteoarthritis
- Health Tip: Exercising With Back Pain
- CANCER
- Study Cites Gains in Gall Bladder Cancer Treatment
- Herb May Counter Liver Damage From Chemo
- Many Cancer Patients Turn to Complementary Medicine
- CAREGIVING
- Child's Food Allergies Take Toll on Family Plans
- Coordination Has Led to Quicker Heart Treatment
- Many Alzheimer's Caregivers Admit to Abusive Behavior
- CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
- Health Tip: Are You Anemic?
- Bye, Bye Back Fat?
- Health Tip: Who's Prone to Iron Deficiency?
- COSMETIC
- Mouse Study Finds Molecule That Tells Hair to Grow
- Get Sugared!.... Its a sweet choice for hair removal
- New Genetic Links to Baldness Discovered
- DENTAL, ORAL
- A Sweet Way to Shield Baby's Teeth
- Good Oral Hygiene May Protect Against Heart Infections
- Gum Disease May Reactivate AIDS Virus
- DIABETES
- Out-of-Control Blood Sugar May Affect Memory
- Health Tip: Your Diabetes Health-Care Team
- Vitamin K Slows Insulin Resistance in Older Men
- DIET, NUTRITION
- Coffee Drinkers Might Live Longer
- Health Tip: Taming a Sweet Tooth
- Marinades Help Keep Grilled Meat Safe
- DISABILITIES
- Could Your Cell Phone Help Shield You From Alzheimer's?
- Review Finds Marijuana May Help MS Patients
- ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
- Freckles, Moles May Indicate Risk for Eye Cancer
- Household Insecticides May Be Linked to Autoimmune Diseases
- Seasons Arriving 2 Days Earlier, Study Says
- EYE CARE, VISION
- Health Tip: If Your Child Wears Glasses
- Thyroid Problems Boost Glaucoma Risk
- Time Teaches Brain to Recognize Objects
- FITNESS
- You Can Get Great Exercise In The Garden
- Super Bowl Loss Can 'Kill' Some Fans
- Brisk Walk Can Help Leave Common Cold Behind
- GASTROINTESTINAL PROBLEMS
- Peppermint Oil, Fiber Can Fight Irritable Bowel
- HRT Use Raises Risk of Stomach Trouble
- Soothing Imagery May Help Rid Some Kids of Stomach Pain
- GENERAL HEALTH
- When It Comes to Lifting, the Pros Have Your Back
- The Yearly Flu Shot Debate
- The Juice From Beetroots May Boost Stamina
- HEAD & NECK
- Zen May Thicken Brain, Thwart Pain
- Many Children Will Outgrow Headaches
- Ski Helmets Encouraged for All
- HEALTH & TECHNOLOGY
- E-Mailing Your Way to Healthier Habits
- Imaging Sheds Light on How Acupuncture Works
- Flu Trends Predicts, But Offers Only Vaccination as Prevention
- HEART & CARDIOVASCULAR
- Psychiatric Drugs Might Raise Cardiac Death Risk
- Western Diet Linked To Heart Disease, Metabolic Syndrome
- Ginkgo Won't Prevent Heart Attack, Stroke in Elderly
- INFECTIOUS DISEASE
- More Medicinal Uses for Pomegranate
- Swine Flu Now Reported in All 50 States
- Dry Weather Boosts Odds of Flu Outbreaks
- KID'S HEALTH
- Pregnant Women Exposed To Certain Pollutants Could Lower Childs IQ
- Exercise in Adolescence May Cut Risk of Deadly Brain Tumor
- Exercise Eases Obesity and Anger in Kids
- MEN'S HEALTH
- Soy Linked to Low Sperm Count
- Could Chinese Herb Be a Natural Viagra?
- Sunlight May Help Protect Men From Kidney Cancer
- MENTAL HEALTH
- Heal Your LifeŽ Tips for Living Well
- Bullying Seems to Affect Kids Years Later
- Teen Internet Addicts More Likely to Self-Harm: Study
- PREGNANCY
- Breast-Feeding May Protect a Woman's Heart
- Exercise As Well As Acupuncture, May Ease Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
- Breast-Feeding Benefits Moms and Babies
- SENIORS
- Eating Well And Keeping Active As You Grow Old Will Help You Stay Sharp
- Keeping Mentally Active Seems To Keep The Brain Active
- Tai Chi May Help Ward Off Knee Pain in Seniors
Tune Up Your Health With Music
By eholistic.com Published: 02/01/2010
The litany of suspected benefits is long: It can soothe infants and adults alike, trigger memories, temper pain, aid sleep and make the heart beat faster or slower. "It," of course, is music.
A growing body of research has been making such suggestions for years. Just why music seems to have these effects, though, remains elusive.
There's a lot to learn, said Robert Zatorre, a professor at McGill University in Montreal, where he studies the topic at the Montreal Neurological Institute. Music has been shown to help with such things as pain and memory, he said, but "we don't know for sure that it does improve our [overall] health."
And though there are some indications that music can affect both the body and the mind, "whether it translates to health benefits is still being studied," Zatorre said.
In one study, Zatorre and his colleagues found that people who rated music they listened to as pleasurable were more likely to report emotional arousal than those who didn't like the music they were listening to. Those findings were published in October in PLoS One.
From the scientists' standpoint, he explained, "it's one thing if people say, 'When I listen to this music, I love it.' But it doesn't tell what's happening with their body." Researchers need to prove that music not only has an effect, but that the effect translates to health benefits long-term, he said.
One question to be answered is whether emotions that are stirred up by music really affect people physiologically, said Dr. Michael Miller, a professor of medicine and director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.
For instance, Miller said he's found that listening to self-selected joyful music can improve blood flow and perhaps promote vascular health. So, if it calms someone and improves their blood flow, will that translate to fewer heart attacks? "That's yet to be studied," he said.
But in a paper published in the November issue of Medical Hypotheses, Miller suggested the way by which emotions -- such as those triggered when listening to a favorite tune -- might influence the heart.
"Endorphins or endorphin-like compounds are released from the brain in response to pleasurable emotions," he said. "That directly activates the endorphins to release nitric oxide. It's a protective chemical, one of the important chemicals produced by the endothelium [the inner lining of the blood vessels]. It's important in biological and physiological functions -- it causes blood vessels to dilate, it reduces inflammation, it prevents platelets from sticking and cholesterol from being taken up into plaque."
But that might be just part of the story, Miller said. "There are likely to be other effects that have been largely unexplored," he said.
Stress reduction that results from listening to good music might also explain the health benefits, said Aniruddh Patel, a senior fellow at the Neuroscience Institute in San Diego. "Music is known to reduce people's stress and actually have physiological effects on the stress hormone cortisol," he said.
In a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, music was reported to help people who'd had a stroke recover their sight, and Patel said that makes sense.
"The brain is trying to heal itself," he said. "The less stress hormone floating around up there, the better the brain can do its job." That's possibly why it worked, he said.
And as studies continue to find additional benefits from music, scientists continue to investigate the underpinnings.
"We have a trickle of information now about how it works," Patel said. "I think this is a growing area. That trickle is going to become a stream, and that stream is going to become a river."
Until then, Miller's advice is to listen to music you like for 15 to 20 minutes a day -- and to consider it as healthful a practice as exercising regularly and eating healthily.
SOURCES: Michael Miller, M.D., professor, medicine, and director, Center for Preventive Cardiology, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore; Robert Zatorre, Ph.D., Montreal Neurological Institute, and professor, department of neurology and neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal; Aniruddh Patel, Ph.D., Esther J. Burnham senior fellow, Neurosciences Institute, San Diego; March 23, 2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; Oct. 16, 2009, PLoS One online; November 2009, Medical Hypotheses
