Music offers healing qualities

Staffan Fenander plays music for his own enjoyment and as an elder benefits from it

Editor - One way to boost your health is through music.  Health care professionals maintain there is great benefit for music therapy, that has been found to be good for an assortment of physical and mental ills.

While musicians maintain music soothes the soul, health practitioners declare it can heal the sick.  In fact more and more health professionals are including music in that bag of tricks that can provide health benefits, treat depression, improve physical coordination, help speech and hearing problems and even provide assistance in the treatment of cancer and neurological disorders.

Some experts who have researched the benefits of music believe that music can help bring back memories to Alzheimers patients and even support cancer treatment.  Dr. Isabelle Peretz has found music can help promote calm and diminish depression in cancer patients.

Loud noises, however, are not conducive to therapeutic benefit, so experts maintain that music that is curative and restorative must be that which has a soothing tempo, beat and quality which promotes good health overall.

Tests have proven the healing powers of music.  A site that examines natural alternatives for aiding in good health, offered information about the research that substantiates music's positive impact on health.  Research demonstrated that subjects who had surgery did 28% better when played music than those subjects who did not have it played for them.  Measurements were actually taken while they were on the operating table, finding patients had reduced anxiety when they listened to music.

More and more people are finding the benefits of music therapy for people of all ages, including the very young and the very old.  The strong beat of music can also stimulate brain wave activity, helping aid alertness.

Musicians know when they entertain at a nursing home, especially having patients participate in some way, that they are received happily.  It is an occasion when people with medical problems are able to regain some semblance of themselves.  Indeed the use of music as a tool to build language connections and stimulate activity is becoming important in many care facilities.

Shakespeare once said, "If music be the fruit of love, play on."  It may indeed shower people with the love of life that is necessary and offers sustenance for it.  For that reason, music indeed is something that should be offered to everyone to brighten the day and to heal the body and the mind.