In the past, when my classmates were struggling with the recorder, I was playing football in the meantime. I would think: ‘What unlucky people, sitting inside when you can also play outside!’ Now, years later, I look at music very differently. Music can significantly influence our feelings and mood, and therefore also our health.
I regularly put on a quiet playlist to fall asleep to and in my field I also see the special influence that music has on us. Not only on our mood, but also on our hearts. Music can be much more than just entertainment, it can really act as a kind of anti-stress medicine.
Are you tense? Then your heart rate increases and your breathing becomes faster. But guess what? If you play calm music, both your heart rate and blood pressure can drop.
This is because our heart rhythm can adapt to the music we hear. Before sound reaches your brain, the sounds travel along the brain stem, which controls your blood pressure and heart rate, among other things. There’s a good chance that a few stressful days will become a bit more bearable with a relaxing playlist in the background.
Listen to now The Consultation Hoursthe podcast in which Erik Scherder and Leonard Hofstra answer reader questions about healthy living from the head and from the heart. Want to ask a question yourself? Email to hetspraakuur@quest.nl
But music not only has a preventive effect; The effect is also clearly visible in the recovery of patients with cardiovascular disease. Music with a slow tempo, about 60 to 70 beats per minute, makes the heart beat more slowly and lowers blood pressure. Patients who listened to calm classical music after heart surgery appeared to recover even faster than patients who had not been exposed to music.
Of course, cardiologists prescribe medications. But did you know that calm music can enhance that effect? In fact, the right music at the right time can lower your blood pressure just as much as an antihypertensive drug. In addition, classical music also ensures that your blood vessels dilate more easily and the blood flows better. In short: our cardiovascular system responds to rhythm.
Also interesting: The Consultation Hour: Erik Scherder about music as medicine
Yet music as medicine is still unknown territory for most doctors. Many cardiologists are now aware of the positive effects, but music is not yet a standard instrument in their medical kit. As far as I’m concerned, that could certainly change! At home we often use music subconsciously to feel better. Why don’t we use music consciously more often, also in hospitals?
So we can turn up the volume of music as medicine a little in the cardiology department. It is free and can contribute to faster recovery. But music can also be a blessing for yourself. Are you worrying or not feeling well? Put on some music. Preferably at a regular and natural rhythm, because then your heart feels best. It may not always have exactly as much effect as a pill, but it does have more rhythm.
