PHOTO: Cameroonian music legend, saxophonist and vibraphonist, Manu Dibango. Photo credit: Manu Dibango’s Instagram page.
On this edition of What You Didn’t Know, we are focusing on music as it relates to a persons health. Your heartbeat pattern changes and mimics depending on the type of music you are listening to.
Music has so many health effects. To many, it is considered medicine as it can relieve one from some stress. At the same time, it can also cause you some type of stress depending on what kind of music you are listening to.
Most often, loud music has variable pitches. It usually gets louder and noisier. Researchers from Pavia University, Italy, in a study concluded that music with quicker tempos made people breathe faster which increased their heart rate and blood pressure. Whereas, on the contrary, slow and soft music brought opposite results. It lowered the heart rate and blood pressure. As a result of various such studies music is now being used as a rehabilitation medicine for the sufferers of blood pressure.
In cardiovascular units, slow and quiet music is played which relaxes the patients and lowers their blood pressure and heart rate. Good and gentle music can therefore help in times of excessive stress and on the other hand could easily cause damages.
