Health news in brief
Music is no longer just for the soul
Music directly affects the heart, arteries and lungs in ways that may be therapeutically useful, a study has shown.
Researchers in Italy who played random classical tracks to 24 volunteers found that music affected the participants’ bodies. Swelling crescendos increased blood pressure and heart and respiration rates, while relaxing passages did the opposite.
Study leader Prof Luciano Bernardi, from the University of Pavia, said: “Music induces a continuous, dynamic and, to some extent, predictable change in the cardiovascular system. The profile of music [crescendo or decrescendo] is continuously tracked by the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. This is particularly evident when music is rich in emphasis, like in operatic music. These findings increase our understanding of how music could be used in rehabilitative medicine.”
The music they were played included selections from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, an aria from Puccini's Turandot, a Bach cantata, Va Pensierofrom Verdi's opera Nabucco, and Libiam Nei Lieti Calicifrom Verdi's La Traviata. The volunteers also listened to a two-minute silent pause, during which their blood vessels dilated and heart rate and blood pressure reduced.
The research is published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Dogs’ sensitivity put to good use
Dogs are being trained in Britain as potential life-savers to warn diabetic owners when their blood sugar levels fall to dangerously low levels.
Dogs already have been shown to be capable of sniffing out certain cancer cells. Their new frontline role in diabetes care follows recent evidence suggesting a dog’s hyper-sensitive nose can detect tiny changes that occur when a person is about to have a hypoglycemic attack.
A survey last December by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast found 65 per cent of 212 people with insulin-dependent diabetes reported that when they had a hypoglycemic episode, their pets had reacted by whining, barking, licking or some other display.