Listening to just 30 minutes of
rhythmically homogeneous music every day may
significantly reduce high blood pressure, according
to researchers at the American Society of
Hypertension's Twenty Third Annual Scientific
Meeting and Exposition (ASH 2008). In the first
study to examine the antihypertensive effect of
music listening on ambulatory blood pressure (ABP),
today’s findings reveal that patients with mild
hypertension who listened to just half an hour of
classical, Celtic or raga music a day for four weeks
experienced significant reductions in 24-hour
ambulatory blood pressure (ABP).
Hypertension is a common disorder in
which blood pressure remains abnormally high (a
reading of 140/90 mm Hg or greater) and is
responsible for causing at least five million
premature deaths each year worldwide.1
"Listening to music is soothing and
has often been associated with controlling
patient-reported pain or anxiety and acutely
reducing blood pressure,” said study investigator,
Prof. Pietro A. Modesti, MD, PhD, Professor of
Internal Medicine, Dep.Critical Care Medicine,
University of Florence, Italy. “But for the first
time, today’s results clearly illustrate the impact
daily music listening has on ABP. We are excited
about the positive implications for both patients
and physicians, who can now confidently explore
music listening as a safe, effective,
non-pharmacological treatment option or a complement
to therapy."
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