Music helps lower cholesterol

MELODIOUS MEDICINE

'Madonna's Songs Boost Endurance, Symphonies Improve Mental Focus'

Los Angeles: Take a tune and come back to see me in the morning. Doctors have found that prescribing music can improve heart health and lower cholesterol levels.
    Their research found that if a patient listens to 30 minutes a day of their favourite music, it can go far beyond simply relaxing them mentally — it benefits them physically by expanding and clearing blood vessels.
    Doctors have tried the method on some patients in America and it has been welcomed by British experts. It is believed to work by triggering the release into the bloodstream of nitric oxide, which helps prevent the build-up of blood clots and harmful cholesterol.
    The findings are part of a growing body of research into the effects of music on the human body. Scientists have found that songs by Red Hot Chili Peppers and Madonna can improve endurance, while 18th century symphonies can improve mental focus.
    When it comes to the effect on the bloodstream, however, the key is not the type of music but what the listener prefers. The same is true of volume and tempo.
    "The music effect only lasts in the bloodstream for a few seconds but the accumulative benefit of favourite tunes lasts and can be very positive in people of all ages," said Michael Miller, director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at Maryland University, who carried out the research. He added: "We were looking for cheaper, non-pharmacological aids to help us improve our patients' heart health, and we think this is the prescription."
    The Maryland study, based on healthy non-smoking men and women with an average age of 36, found the diameter of blood vessels in the upper arm expanded by 26% in volunteers listening to music they found enjoyable.
    Miller said blood vessel expansion indicated that nitric oxide is being released throughout the body, reducing clots and LDL, a form of cholesterol linked to heart attacks. He also warned that listening to stressful music can shrink blood vessels by 6% — the same effect, according to previous studies, as eating a large hamburger.
    His findings follow a study by Brunel University, west London, confirmed that music can improve mood and boost athletic performance.
    In experiments on 30 volunteers, the researcher, Costas Karageorghis, found that tracks from Madonna and Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as Queen and the R&B singer Rihanna, increased endurance on a treadmill by up to 15% and most participants did not realise they were working harder.
    Music may "pump" the brain and the body. At Stanford University, near San Francisco, researchers found that listening to 18th century symphonies improved listeners' focus between movements, when they mentally updated shopping lists. SUNDAY TIMES