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Issue date: Dec 19, 1999
In this article:
 Doctors
are seeing a connection between harmonious sound and health
Music
"builds a bridge" that allows patients to reconnect
Music
is capable of enhancing immune function, lowering heart rate
Links
to Webs with soothing sounds
Take two tunes
and call me in the morning
New research shows music has the power to keep you
healthy.
By Peggy Noonan
 usic
has long been appreciated for its calming effects, but new research
shows it also may have the power to restore and keep us healthy.
Soothing sounds, from Tibetan chants to Beethoven symphonies, are
being given scientific credit for preventing colds, easing labor
pain and even boosting anti-aging hormones. One recent study found
that surgery patients who listened to comforting music recovered
more quickly and felt less pain than those who did not. Sound therapy
goes beyond recorded music: The International Journal of Arts Medicine
reports that infants in intensive care go home three days sooner,
eat better and gain more weight if the staff talks and sings to
them.
More doctors are seeing a connection between harmonious sound
and health, says Mitchell L. Gaynor, director of medical oncology
and integrative medicine at New York Hospital's cancer-prevention
center and author of the new book Sounds of Healing (Broadway
Books, $25); a CD and audiocassette offer the same sounds and techniques
he uses in his practice.
"If we're around very harmonious people and harmonious vibrations
and harmonious sounds, we begin to feel better," says Gaynor.
"I've never found anything more powerful than sound and voice
and music to begin to heal and transform every aspect of people's
lives," Gaynor says. "It can really change people's lives."
He's not alone. Samuel Wong, a Harvard-trained physician based
in New York City, plays musical instruments to help patients with
brain damage and Alzheimer's disease reconnect to the world. M.D.
is the abbreviation for both his jobs -- he's also music director
of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Honolulu Symphony.
When brain damage (from stroke, Alzheimer's disease, etc.) leaves
a devastated mental landscape, music "builds a bridge" that allows
patients to reconnect with the outside world, says Wong. "The study
of medicine has informed my performance of music, and my learning
of music has deepened my role in healing," he says. Recent research
shows soothing music has an amazing range of healing effects. But
keep it low. Sounds louder than 90 decibels cause stress and ear
damage, says Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D., director of the Center for
Applied Cognitive Studies in Charlotte, N.C., and author of The
Owner's Manual for the Brain (Bard Press, $24.95). Very loud
music, he says, creates an altered state of consciousness akin to
an alcoholic or drug-induced stupor that can become addictive.
"We know that music is capable of enhancing immune function, lowering
heart rate, lowering stress-related hormones like cortisol that
raise our blood pressure and depress our immune systems," Gaynor
says. It also trims complications after heart attack, calms anxiety,
slows breathing and increases production of endorphins, the body's
natural painkillers. Consider: 80% of stimuli that reach our brains
come in through our ears.
Even before we're born, music makes a difference. Hearing is the
first sense to develop, when the fetus is only 18 weeks old. "We
know that the unborn child hears for literally half the pregnancy
and is affected profoundly by what it hears," Gaynor says. Studies
show music by Mozart and Vivaldi actually can bring down fetal heart
rate, calm brain waves and reduce the baby's kicking, Gaynor reports.
Rock music, on the other hand, appeared to drive fetuses to distraction,
greatly increasing kicking.
Why does sound affect us so strongly? Our bodies are 70% water,
and that makes them excellent conductors for sound and vibration,
Gaynor explains. "We're not just hearing with our ears. We're literally
feeling vibration sound with every cell in our bodies."
Disharmony and noise, whether it's from traffic, the boss yelling
at us about a deadline or a jackhammer on the street, can make us
stressed, depressed and pessimistic -- all of which depress our
immune systems. "That's why disharmony can eventually lead to disease,"
says Gaynor.
"Our own voices are very underutilized healing tools," Gaynor
says. Singing is a great way to tap music's healing power. If you're
self-conscious, try chanting. Anyone can do it, and "you can't do
it wrong."
Says Gaynor, "We're just seeing the tip of the iceberg as far
as the incredible power of sound to affect every cell and every
organ system in our bodies."
Colorado writer Peggy Noonan likes Tchaikovsky
and Gershwin.
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