Dr. Claudius Conrad and Music in Medicine
Posted by Dr. Cason on Saturday, June 14th, 2008
This is a continuation from yesterday’s post: The Healing Powers of Music
If you didn’t read it go back and listen to Mitsuko Uchida playing Mozart. Or even if you have, go back and listen to her again. She’s amazing.
Anyway the fascinating story that followed the melodious music was about Dr. Claudius Conrad, a 30 year old, third-year surgical resident at Harvard Medical School who recently published a paper elucidating the healing properties of music. Dr. Conrad has some first hand experience. Not only has he been playing music since he was a little boy, he also holds doctorates in stem cell biology and music philosophy.
Directly from his article titled Esoteric or Exoteric? Music in Medicine is the following:
We recently completed a study on critically ill, intubated ICU patients to investigate whether a well-defined selection of Mozart music can alleviate stress in critically ill patients, and how this effect might be mediated physiologically. The patients, while off sedation, were exposed to a 1-hour session of slow movements of Mozart’s piano sonatas. Before and after the intervention, a defined set of stress hormones, cytokines, and physiologic parameters – such as heart rate and blood pressure – were determined.
We demonstrated that, compared to controls, music significantly reduced the amount of sedative drugs needed to achieve comparable levels of sedation. Simultaneously, among those receiving the music intervention, plasma concentrations of growth hormone rose, whereas those of interleukin-6 and epinephrine fell. The reduction in systemic stress hormone levels was associated with a significantly lower blood pressure and heart rate.
Dr. Conrad also pointed out that music had a beneficial effect on surgeons as well. He stated that he often used music in the operating room to modulate stress. I found myself nodding as I clearly remembered the numerous hours spent in the operating rooms in medical school. The calmer happier surgeons – in my humble not a surgeon opinion- had music playing in the background. It put us all at ease.
Even my surgeon husband will attest to this. As a matter of fact he said that the patients and staff appear calmer. Also to help turn over the rooms faster between cases his staff will use rap music to get them going!
Because music reduces blood pressure and helps modulate stress, Conrad asserts that it needs to be an integral part of medicinal therapy. He pointed out that in the middle ages musical training was an essential part of medical training. While I never had any musical training in medical school, I did listen to George Winston’s Winter CD over and over again. It was soothing and rhythmic as I went about my studies. To this day today when I listen to it- I breathe a little deeper.
Do you have some music that heals you? Do you think we should incorporate more music in our lives? What about in hospitals or clinics?
Filed in Everything Medicine, Self Improvement |
Dr. Claudius Conrad and Music in Medicine | Medical Alarmson 14 Jun 2008 at 8:20 pm 1[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptMusic in Medicine is the following:. We recently completed a study on critically ill, intubated ICU patients to investigate whether a well-defined selection of Mozart music can alleviate stress in critically ill patients, … [...]
medicineon 15 Jun 2008 at 4:41 am 2Yeh! Quite different treatment. I love it. As i am a music lover,i habituated to it for relief. Medicine is a good example for that.
White Hot Magikon 15 Jun 2008 at 5:45 am 3Yes! We use music all the time. I put on Louis Prima to get me grooving while cleaning. It helps that my husband is a musician and we have a wide range of tastes. Have you tried it with your patients?
White Hot Magiks last blog post..Does this upset you?
Dr. Casonon 16 Jun 2008 at 5:09 am 4I have always been jealous of the really musical types. But I figure the world needs listeners and dancers to groove to it and I do that very well.
My clinic does have music in the background but nothing that has been purposely orchestrated. It would be nice to have something that would calm down the really scared little ones. Sometimes I sing Elmo’s la la la la while I’m looking in their ears. Some look at me like I’m crazy but others are distracted enough they don’t have time to be afraid.
Guinevere Meadowon 18 Jun 2008 at 2:33 am 5I’ve always found music to be very calming. While I was in labor with my son, I had a very carefully selected playlist on my iPod, songs chosen that make me relax. I went 18 hours before requesting any pain meds, and I’m sure the music had somethng to do with it! I’m sure everyone else in the room was sick of hearing the same songs over and over again…lol! (It was a seriously long labor that ended in a C-Section , but that’s another story!)
Dr. Casonon 18 Jun 2008 at 6:08 am 6Guinevere-
I never thought to have music but then I used an epidural. But I do have my iPod with lots of playlists and use them depending on which mood i’m in or want to be in.