Why listening to music is the key to
good health
by NAOMI COLEMAN, femail.co.uk
It's the weekend and at some point
you'll probably relax to your favourite music, watch a film with a catchy title
track - or hit the dance floor.
There's no doubt that listening to
your favourite music can instantly put you in a good mood. But scientists are
now discovering that music can do more for you than just lift your spirits.
Research is showing it has a variety
of health benefits.
Fresh research from Austria has
found that listening to music can help patients with chronic back pain.
And a recent survey by Mind - the
mental health charity - found that after counselling, patients found group
therapy such as art and music therapy, the most useful.
Here,
we present six proven ways that music can help you and your family's health
1. CHRONIC BACK PAIN
How it helps: Music works on the autonomic nervous system - the part of
the nervous system responsible for controlling our blood pressure, heartbeat
and brain function - and also the limbic system - the part of the brain that
controls feelings and emotions. According to one piece of research, both these
systems react sensitively to music.
When slow rhythms are played, our
blood pressure and heartbeat slow down which helps us breathe more slowly, thus
reducing muscle tension in our neck, shoulders, stomach and back. And experts say that apart from physical tension, music
also reduces psychological tension in our mind.
In other words when we feel pain, we
become frightened, frustrated and angry which makes us tense up hundreds of
muscles in our back. Listening to music on a regular basis helps our bodies
relax physically and mentally, thus helping to relieve - and prevent - back
pain.
The research: A new study from Austria's General Hospital of Salzburg due
to be published in The Vienna Medical Weekly Journal could hold the key to back
pain. In the study, 65 patients aged between 21 and 68 with chronic back
pain after back surgery were divided into two groups.
One group received standard medical
care and physiotherapy. The other group also listened to music and received
visualisation classes for 25 minutes every day for three weeks. Results found
that the group who listened to music and used imagery experienced better pain
relief than the group who did not.
Clinical psychologist Franz Wendtner
who led the study says: 'Music is an important part of our physical and
emotional wellbeing - ever since we were babies in our mother's womb listening
to her heartbeat and breathing rhythms.
'Listening to music for about 25
minutes everyday for at least ten days can help prevent back pain and also make
you sleep better.'
Which type of music is best? Experts believe any type of classical music such as Mozart
or Beethoven can help relieve muscle pain. Calm, slow music is also thought to
help.
2. IMPROVES YOUR WORKOUT
How it helps: Experts say listening to music during exercise can give you
a better workout in several ways. Scientists claim it can increase your
endurance, boost your mood and can distract you from any discomfort experienced
during your workout.
The research: Dr Robert Herdegen of America's Hampden-Sydney College in
Virginia, looked at the effects of 12 men riding a bicycle for ten minutes
while listening to music on one day. He compared it to the same men riding
bicycles without music for ten minutes the following day.
On the days that the men exercised
listening to music, they travelled 11 per cent further - compared to the days
they didn't listen to music. Researchers also found that the men's levels of
exertion were at their lowest when listening to music.
Other studies show that listening to
music releases endorphins - our natural 'feel good' hormones that lift our mood
and give us motivation to carry on longer with exercise.
Which type of music is best? The best type of music for exercise is thought to be
high energy, high tempo music such as hip hop or dance music.
3. MEMORY LOSS
How it helps: For many people suffering from memory loss the spoken
language has become meaningless. Music can help patients remember tunes or
songs and get in touch with their history. This is because the part of the
brain which processes music is located next to memory.
The research: Researchers from Norway's Sogn Og Fjordane College compared
the effects of live, taped and no music on three different groups of people
suffering from post traumatic amnesia - or memory loss.
The patients were exposed to all
three conditions, twice over six consecutive days. Results showed that when patients listened to live or
taped music, two thirds of them showed significantly reduced symptoms of
anxiety and enhanced orientation, compared to the group that didn't listen to
music.
Which type of music is best? Research shows that people with memory loss respond best to
music of their choice.
To find out how music can help
childbirth, depresson and children going into surgery, click on the link below
Does your child refuse to eat their greens? You're not alone: 1 in 5 toddlers have NEVER tried a vegetable
- Study found 28% parents spend a day a year trying to persuade children
- But 1 in 5 have given up trying to make their child eat their greens
- Lack of vitamins can harm development, eyesight and lead to depression
Most parents will have seen their children turn
there noses up at the idea of broccoli or cabbage.
But incredibly, almost one in five two-year-olds
have never even tried a vegetable, new research has found.
A survey revealed some parents had become so fed up
with the daily battle, they stopped trying all together.
As a result, it is estimated that more
than 30,000 toddlers in the UK are not getting any of their five a day.
A survey found that almost one in five two-year-olds had
never tried a vegetable because their parents had given up trying to make them
eat them
Studies have shown if a child's problem is
short-term, it is unlikely to do any harm.
But long term refusal to eat a diet containing
calcium, protein, vitamins, minerals and fibre could stunt development.
Lack of calcium - found in milk and leafy green
vegetables - can lay the foundations for weak bones while a deficiency of B
vitamins can cause nerve problems.
A lack of vitamin A - found in carrots and other
vegetables - can harm eyesight.
Fussy eating has also been linked to serious
mental problems with studies linking even moderate levels of pickiness with
greater levels of depression and anxiety.
But the latest survey, commissioned by baby food
firm Ella's Kitchen, found parent's desperate pleas of 'they're good for you'
and 'just a little' don't work.
One in five two-year-olds regularly refuse to eat
their vegetables.
It means over a quarter of frustrated parents spend
an average one day a year trying to persuade their little ones to eat
them.
Parents admit trying a variety of tactics to
convince their little ones to eat their food, with one in three using the
television as a distraction tool and almost half disguising food to make
it more appealing.
Giving babies vegetables during weaning makes them more
likely to eat them later in childhood, studies have found. But an estimated
30,000 two-year-olds in the UK have not tried even one, according to a study
The research, published in Nutrition Bulletin, also
shows one in three parents felt nervous, deflated or confused during the
weaning process.
This has led to less than a quarter of babies being
given vegetables as a first food.
The study suggests introducing a variety of
vegetables during the early stages of weaning as this is associated with
increased acceptance of foods then and later in childhood.
Experts encourage parents to persist, even when it
looks like they don't like a certain food.
Often, children pull faces but this is because
babies have heightened senses and so they need to touch, taste and smell things
around them and this includes food.
Dr Lucy Chambers, British Nutrition Foundation,
said: 'This review highlights that familiarising infants with a wide variety
of vegetables during the early weaning period is positively associated with
increased acceptance and intake of these foods in later childhood.
'This is really exciting as we know that the
foods most often disliked and rejected by children are vegetables, particularly
those that are bitter, such as dark leafy vegetables, and that intake of these
foods has many health benefits.'
Mark Cuddigan, managing director of Ella's Kitchen,
said: 'We know that introducing a variety of veg during weaning helps
steer little ones towards a taste for vegetables which stays with them
throughout childhood and beyond, with all the associated health benefits.'
No.
|
Passive voice
|
Tenses
|
1
|
When slow rhythms are played,
our blood pressure and heartbeat slow down which helps us breathe more
slowly, thus reducing muscle tension in our neck, shoulders, stomach and
back.
|
Simple present
|
2
|
In the study, 65 patients aged
between 21 and 68 with chronic back pain after back surgery were divided
into two groups
|
Simple past
|
3
|
The best type of music for
exercise is thought to be high energy, high tempo music such as hip
hop or dance music.
|
Simple present
|
4
|
This is because the part of the
brain which processes music is located next to memory.
|
Simple present
|
5
|
The patients were exposed
to all three conditions, twice over six consecutive days.
|
Simple past
|
6
|
Fussy eating has also been linked to
serious mental problems with studies linking even moderate levels of
pickiness with greater levels of depression and anxiety.
|
Simple present perfect
|
7
|
The study suggests introducing a variety of
vegetables during the early stages of weaning as this is associated
with increased acceptance of foods then and later in childhood.
|
Simple present
|
8
|
'This review highlights that familiarising
infants with a wide variety of vegetables during the early weaning period is
positively associated with increased acceptance and intake of these foods
in later childhood.
|
Simple present
|
9
|
'This is really exciting as we know that the
foods most often disliked and rejected by children are vegetables,
particularly those that are bitter, such as dark leafy vegetables, and that
intake of these foods has many health benefits.'
|
Simple present
|
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