Listening to music found to lower blood pressure

[Celebration]

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSCOL65690420080516

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Listening to half an hour of music each day may significantly lower your blood pressure, according to research reported at the American Society of Hypertension meeting in New Orleans this week.

In the study, researchers found that people with mild hypertension (high blood pressure) who listened to classical, Celtic or Indian (raga) music for just 30 minutes a day for one month had significant reductions in their blood pressure.

"Listening to music is soothing and has often been associated with controlling patient-reported pain or anxiety and acutely reducing blood pressure," study investigator Dr. Pietro A. Modesti, of the University of Florence in Italy, noted in a written statement from the meeting. "But for the first time, today's results clearly illustrate the impact daily music listening has on ambulatory blood pressure."

Ambulatory blood pressure refers to readings taken repeatedly over the course of a day.

A total of 48 adults ages 45 to 70 who were taking medication to control mild hypertension took part in the study. Of these, 28 listened to 30 minutes of "rhythmically homogenous" classical, Celtic or raga music daily while practicing slow, controlled breathing exercises. The remaining 20 participants, serving as the control group, made no changes to their daily routine.

Blood pressure readings obtained one and four weeks later showed that systolic blood pressure - the top number in the blood pressure reading - dropped significantly in the music listeners. In contrast, the control group experienced only small, non-significant reductions in blood pressure.

[grasswire]

1. wait, wait

"Of these, 28 listened to 30 minutes of "rhythmically homogenous" classical, Celtic or raga music daily while practicing slow, controlled breathing exercises. "

Why do they assume it's the music and not the breathing???

Hasn't it already been shown that controlled breathing can regulate BP?

Music can produce endorphins -- did they consider that factor?

[silverweb]

4. Excellent points.

I'll take the whole prescription. :D

Actually, I've got a play list with about 5 hours of "mood music" -- including favorites from Riverdance, Lord of the Dance, Bach by the Sea, Global Rhythms (Latin and African drumming), _Wah!_ and more -- and even without the "controlled breathing" feel very happy and relaxed when listening to it. There's no doubt endorphins are involved.

I think I'll try the controlled breathing for a while, instead of gardening or puttering around while I'm listening, to see if there will be a measurable effect on my blood pressure. It'll be an interesting experiment.

[hvn_nbr_2]

5. I'm a little late to this thread, but that was exactly my first thought too.

If they wanted to test the effect of music, then they should have made music the only variable: they should either have skipped the breathing exercises or had the control group do the breathing exercises. If the study has two or more variables, and they intend to conclude that one of the variables has an effect, it's a stupid study.

I hate it when people design a study so stupid that I can immediately see the flaws, deficiencies, or contradictions in their conclusions. Psychological research is the worst offender--when they think they've proven something, I can almost always think of at least a few alternate interpretations or reasons for the effects they see, often with some simple thing they could have done in the experimental design to remove the ambiguity.

Yes, it has been shown that controlled breathing can help regulate BP. In fact, there's an FDA-approved device for controlling BP that uses breathing exercises. I think the main points for breathing are slow breathing, deep abdominal breathing, and exhaling slower than inhaling.

[Systematic Chaos]

2. I wonder what the results would have been if they went with a little goregrind instead?

I can't say I've ever listened to this (and doubt I ever will), but the howls of laughter coming from my friend and I the day I found a copy of that CD in Tower Records are something I'll never forget.

I should note these guys are Swedish. America does not corner the market on depravity!

:evilgrin:

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

3. Metallica doesn't seem to have that effect on me.