HEART STRINGS
How music can make you fitter — just by listening, writes Laura Donnelly
LISTENING to music has long been seen as a remedy for heartbreak, but now a study has found that it can, in fact, strengthen the heart — and improve the recovery of patients suffering from heart disease.
Cardiologists said the findings suggested that people could improve the health of their heart simply by listening to their favourite tunes.
The study found that listening to music released endorphins in the brain which, in turn, improved vascular health.
Music without lyrics was most effective because words “can upset the emotions”, the researchers said.
For the study, patients with cardiac disease were divided into three groups.
Some were enrolled in exercise classes for three weeks. Others were put in the same classes, but also told to listen to music of their choice for 30 minutes every day. A third group only listened to music, and did not do any cardio-vascular exercise, which is usually prescribed to those with heart disease.
At the end of the trial, the patients who had listened to music as well as exercising had boosted crucial measures of heart function significantly, and improved their exercise capacity by 39%.
The group that did only aerobic exercise improved their capacity by 29%.
Those who did no exercise and only listened to their favourite music for half an hour a day improved their exercise function by 19%, the study of 74 patients found.
The report, presented at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual congress in Amsterdam, suggested that the release of key hormones while listening to music was behind the changes.
Professor Delijanin Ilic, the lead investigator, from the institute of cardiology at the University of Nis, Serbia, said: “When we listen to music we like, then endorphins are released from the brain and this improves our vascular health. There is no ‘best music’ for everyone — what matters is what the person likes and what makes them happy.”
She said other studies examining the impact of music suggested there might be some types that are less good for the heart. Heavy metal is more likely to raise stress levels, whereas opera, classical and other kinds of “joyful” music are more likely to stimulate endorphins.
Ilic added: “It is also possible that it is better to have music without words, because the words themselves can
What matters is what makes the person happy
upset the emotions.”
Although the study was carried out on patients suffering from heart disease, she said she believed the findings were likely to apply to a wider population, since it is already known that exercise boosts coronary health in healthy people.
Ilic said listening to one’s favourite music and doing so in addition to regular exercise “may be an adjunct method in the rehabilitation of patients with coronary artery disease”.
She added that people should choose music which made them happy or relaxed. — ©