Tuesday, 23 Jun, 2009 Health & Fitness

Italian scientists discovered that music can treat patients who suffered a heart attack or stroke. They came up with such conclusion after noticing that music influences blood pressure. Music that had a fast tempo increased blood pressure along with heart rate, while slow music lowered them. Similar effect was noticed when the volume of the music was altered.

Thus a combination of fast and slow music can help regulate the cardiovascular system and contribute to its rehabilitation.

People who took part in the study were provided headphones that played different types of music. Scientists also attached the participants to electrocardiogram (ECG) and monitors in order to calculate such parameters as: blood pressure, cerebral artery flow, respiration and narrowing of blood vessels on the skin.

Researchers discovered that volume increase provoked moderate arousal while its decrease made patients more relaxed. Both heart rate and blood pressure lowered when the music stopped. Professor Luciano Bernardi at the University of Pavia, in Italy, wrote about the effect of music in an article published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.