Music Found to Significantly Reduce Pain, Anxiety in Postop Heart Surgeries
Given that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world, prevention and treatment have never been more important. While conventional cardiology relies heavily on pharmaceuticals in the management of cardiac conditions, music has been shown to have remarkable benefits without any side effects—music as medicine.
Ancient cultures understood the healing benefits of music and integrated it into their promotion of health and healing of disease. But this practice was mostly lost in the rise of western medicine. Today, that connection is gradually being restored as a new wave of research is being done on the healing benefits of music on the heart.
One such recent study found that listening to music is linked to a significant reduction in anxiety and pain after major heart surgery. The researchers concluded that clinicians should consider music for patients scheduled for surgery as it has none of the risks or side effects, and many of the benefits of the drugs most commonly used to aid in post-surgery recovery.
Watch more:
About the Author
Scientists Find Breakthrough Use of Light to Kill Cancer Cells
In a world-first, scientists have developed a breakthrough treatment that uses light to kill cancer cells.
We often think of light as a life-giving source, but in the case of photoimmunotherapy — the use of light to help a person’s own immune system fight cancer — light can both be a source of life, for the patient, and death, to cancer cells.
A multidisciplinary team of European scientists joined forces to design the new treatment, which works by combining a special fluorescent dye with a cancer-targeting compound.
Shining light on the compound forces cancer cells to glow in the dark, helping surgeons to remove more of the tumors compared with existing techniques.
Then, the surgeon would shine near-infrared light on the site, switching the compound into tumor-killing mode and killing off any remaining cells.
