It’s Complementary Archives

Fall 2009 – Cancer, Stress and Music

Anyone who has dealt with cancer, or any other major disease, knows how stressful the experience can be. Thoughts and emotions like anxiety, fear and uncertainty that creep into life every day can make treatment, healing and recovery very difficult, which is why it is critical to find ways to lessen the stress of an illness so as not to impede recovery. And more and more evidence today says that music is one way to reduce that stress. A new study from the University of Maryland says that listening to music that makes you happy can improve blood flow by increasing blood vessel dilation by 26 percent. How?
Researchers speculate that hearing your favorite tunes triggers the release of endorphins, feel‐good brain chemicals that signal the vessels to relax. “Using music to help the ill has been employed for thousands of years, even though modern medicine is just starting to understand how it works,” said Dr. Claudius Conrad, a senior surgical resident at Harvard Medical School. “Research has already shown that if you play a piece, like Mozart, at a certain slow beat, the listener will adapt their heart beat to the beat of the music.”

While at the University of Munich, Dr. Conrad was able to show that critically ill patients required fewer sedative drugs when they listened to one hour of Mozart piano sonatas. As expected, the patients’ blood pressures and heart rates eased with the music. But Dr. Conrad was surprised to see that the patients also showed a 50 percent spike in pituitary growth hormone, which is known to stimulate healing. There are many books in the marketplace that address the healing power of music, including ”Music and Cancer: A Prescription for Healing” which was just released last month. A sampling of books
on this subject can be found at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search‐alias%3Dstripbooks&field‐keywords=music+and+healing&x=0&y=0.

Clinical studies and anecdotal evidence from music therapists suggest that the sound of music can help
manage pain, decrease nausea during chemotherapy, relieve anxiety, lower blood pressure, ease depression and shorten hospital stays.

So what type of music is best?
“Many years of research have shown me that there is no set prescription, no particular piece of music that will make everyone feel better or more relaxed,” says Suzanne Hanser, EdD, a music therapist at Dana‐Farber Cancer Institute, in an article published in Prevention magazine. “What counts is familiarity, musical taste and the kinds of memories, feelings and associations that a piece of music brings to mind. The key is to individualize your musical selections.” Dr. Hanser says that you can feel refreshed after listening to music for as little as 10 minutes. Just find a spot where you can sit or lie down in a
comfortable position, in a place where you will not be disturbed. Then, after listening for a few minutes, add a relaxation exercise by starting at your feet, gently tightening, then relaxing your muscles. “Afterward, you may find that you’re able to think more clearly and approach the rest of your day with a more positive, relaxed outlook,” she says. So kick off your shoes, grab your favorite CDs and take a few minutes for yourself to enjoy some tunes that you love. You may be doing more good for yourself that you know.