| The power of music to integrate and cure. . . is quite | | | | heal people." -- Senator Harry Reid, Nevada. As a |
| fundamental. It is the profoundest nonchemical | | | | therapeutic modality, music interventions are able to |
| medication. - Oliver Sacks "Awakenings" | | | | promote wellness, manage stress, combat |
| Music as a healing force goes back several centuries. | | | | depression, alleviate pain, relax or sedate, express |
| Apollo was worshipped by the Greeks as the god of | | | | feelings, enhance memory, improve communication, |
| both music and medicine. Healing and sound were | | | | and promote physical rehabilitation. Therapeutic music |
| considered a highly developed sacred science in the | | | | enhances an individual's self-awareness and spiritual |
| Egyptian and Greek education systems. Soon after | | | | growth, brightens their perspective on life and this |
| World War I and World War II, community musicians | | | | results in increasing his or her quality of life |
| of all types, both amateur and professional, | | | | German author, Johann G. Seume expressed, "Music |
| serenaded veterans, suffering both physical and | | | | is the key to the female heart." Love is intimately |
| emotional trauma from the wars. The medical | | | | connected to music. Henry Ward Beecher (1813-87), |
| profession is now embracing the value of music in | | | | American clergyman sang, "Of all the music that |
| the healing or palliative care of a wide variety of | | | | reaches farthest into heaven, it is the beating of a |
| patients: the chronically or terminally ill, the disabled, | | | | loving heart." Music helps conquer loneliness. Lawrence |
| the neurologically impaired, and the mentally | | | | Pat Conroy, said," Without music, life is a journey |
| challenged. Music therapy programs are popping up in | | | | through a desert." Music can help combat depression |
| hospitals and treatment centers around the country. | | | | and anxiety. George Eliot (1819-80), British writer |
| Heart disease is the primary cause of death in the | | | | announced, "There is no feeling, except the |
| United States. Those who suffer from heart disease | | | | extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief |
| either die prematurely or suffer a marked decrease in | | | | in music." Music has its spiritual benefits too. Every |
| quality of life. Increasing evidence is proving that | | | | religion has incorporated music in its fabric. Basketball |
| music is soothing for the heart. Marconato and | | | | coach, Red Auerbach, who was elected to the |
| collegues reported in the Arq Bras Cardiol. in 2001, | | | | basketball hall of fame in 1969, preached, "Music |
| decreased stress levels and increased personal | | | | washes away from the soul the dust of everyday |
| satisfaction, higher consumption of fiber-rich food, | | | | life." Music helps laborers lessen their burden and helps |
| lower cholesterol intake, and a better perspective on | | | | their time pass faster. It also acts as an uniting force |
| life in people on receptive music therapy . White in | | | | in all aspects of life. |
| the American Journal of Critical Care in 1999 showed | | | | Musical therapist and teacher , Pastor Hal A. |
| that in patients with an acute heart attack, music | | | | Lingerman, said, "Just as certain selections of music |
| therapy was associated with reductions in heart rate, | | | | will nourish your physical body and your emotional |
| respiratory rate, and myocardial oxygen demand. | | | | layer, so other musical works will bring greater health |
| Guzzetta went further and reported in Heart Lung in | | | | to your mind." And as he correctly remarked, not all |
| 1989, that the incidence of cardiac complications was | | | | music is created equal. Several studies have shown |
| found to be lower in patients admitted to the | | | | that relaxing music (Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart) results in a |
| coronary care unit with a presumptive diagnosis of | | | | significant reduction of heart rate and also a |
| heart attack, if they were subjected to music and | | | | significant reduction of heart rate variability, both |
| relaxation therapy. Thorgaard and associates | | | | benefitting the heart. The human heart rate tends to |
| reported in the European Journal of Cardiovascular | | | | synchronize with the tempo of the music. Fast |
| Nursing in 2004 that specially selected music had a | | | | tempos drive up heartbeats, breathing and blood |
| positive effect on the well being of patients and their | | | | pressure, and may be detrimental to the |
| opinion on the sound environment during invasive | | | | cardiovascular system. Enjoy slower tempo music and |
| cardiac procedures. Other studies have demonstrated | | | | relax - and as the American writer, Henry Miller |
| health benefits of music during and after cardiac | | | | penned, "Music is a beautiful opiate, if you don't take |
| surgery. | | | | it too seriously. |
| Music has other benefits too. "Simply put, music can | | | | |