Medical varsity uses music to treat patients

Suffering from acute pain or an asthma attack? Try listening to the soft musical strains of the Hanuman Chalisa and minutes later, you will feel a sense of relief. If you do not want to listen to Hanuman Chalisa, listen to a melodious ghazal and it will have the same effect. The King George’s Medical University has launched a first-of-its kind music therapy for palliative care for patients with respiratory disorders. According to Dr Surya Kant, the head of the respiratory medicine department, “The facility of music therapy is simply an add- on to the medical treatment being given to patients, who often get restless about their ailment. We have started this for patients with respiratory disorders and will later extend it to their departments as well.” A special 30–bed ward has been set up with amplifiers in which the music will be played. “We are playing soft music—bhajans, ghazal sans even film songs to soothe nerves. Apart from making patients relax, we also hope that the therapy will reduce patient-doctor conflict that is increasing by the day,” he said. The doctor explained that the music therapy has a medical side to it. Soothing music causes the release of dopamine, a hormone which induces a feel good factor and positive energy in the brain and body. This helps in speeding up the healing process and also diverts the patients’ attention from his pain and discomfort. “This is particularly beneficial in patients suffering from psychosomatic disorders—a condition that is aggravated by a mental factor such as internal conflict or stress. Some of the diseases that are aggravated by this include asthma, bronchial and skin diseases. The faculty members feel that the music therapy would be particularly beneficial for terminally ill patients, particularly those suffering from cancer. The Congress’ stiff criticism and opposition to his political drama Indu Sarkar, based on the 1975-77 Emergency, was a “knee-jerk reaction” and “an attempt to create unwarranted uproar”, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar said in a conversation with The Sunday Guardian. The Congress had condemned the movie for its “flawed” portrayal of party veterans Indira Gandhi, her son Sanjay Gandhi, and other senior leaders. It had denounced the movie as an attempt to tarnish the leaders’ image. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had asked Bhandarkar for 12 cuts and two disclaimers, including removal of words like Akali and RSS, in the movie. However, a month after struggling to get the clearance certificate, Indu Sarkar was released on Friday, with minor edits and a U/A certificate.

Earlier, Congress spokesperson Jyotiraditya Scindia had called Indu Sarkar a