Music is “Sound Medicine”. Yes, through Music Therapy. A new breed of therapists, specializing in the sound of music, prescribes Indian classical ragas as alternative medicine to their patients. It is a formal procedure termed as music therapy. It is one of the expressive therapies which have recently been interpreted as a complementary or integrative medicine or rehabilitative medicine. It is only "supportive" in nature and helps in treating the patients in a faster and effective way and curing them better. Above all, such listening to good music has no side effects at all.

Music therapy is based on the associative and cognitive powers of the mind. In Indian classical music, the mind and the body are seen as a whole where music is the link that brings about balances. Different sound and different sequences of notes produce specific frequencies that influence and vibrate different cells of our bodies in varying proportions, which effectively change consciousness to promote health.

Music stimulates the pituitary gland, whose secretions affect the nervous system and the flow of blood. The right kind of music helps one relax and refresh. In addition, it can help cure headache,abdominal painand tension. Music therapy is one of the most effective ways of controlling emotions, blood pressure and restoring the functioning of the liver. It has been roped in to tackle problems such as speech disorders, hypertension, for pain relief, and even for skin regeneration

Similar to our body muscles, which respond to repetition of its tension and relaxation in aerobic exercises, mind also responds to the repetition of tension and resolution caused by the musical notes. The net result is naturally the greater flexibility of mind that copes up with the tensions and traumas created by one’s surroundings. While we breathe deeply, the oxygen intake causes tension within the body. Once we breathe out, this tension goes out and hence we feel relieved. Some recent researchers have found out that the tension built and the resultant resolution that follows in music gets translated into an electrical code of pulse in the brains.

Even the people who are in the last leg of their journey – as for examples, the inmates of hospices - can derive noticeable relief either by listening to or sounding their agony through music.

There is no exclusiveness about therapeutic music as all sorts of music have shown this ability -be it modern or traditional or operatic music.

There is raga for every ailment - from asthma to arthritis. It works on psychosomatic and psychological disorders.

Some major hospitals have music therapy wing also. Pregnant ladies take music therapy to enable easy and normal delivery to give birth to `super-intelligent children,' who will have better cognition, spatial and depth perception, grasping of concepts and mathematical ability.

In the working atmosphere, light music is played (I have seen rather heard that in many banks and MNCs) as improves efficiency. Listening to music, even if it is involuntary, helps control depressing phases of our personalities like worry, bias and anger. Many corporates have begun to employ music therapists to relieve their employees from stress and thereby to enhance productivity. Consequently, CDs such as `Music for Sleep and Relaxation' and `Music for Pregnancy and Babies' are doing good rounds in the market.

Not only this, but the other aspects of music therapy are:

Cows, made to listen music regularly, yields more milk.

Plants grow faster, when grown under musical environment.

Tansen, a musician managed to light up the lamps in Emperor Akbar's court with an evocative rendition of Raag Deepak and also cured the ailment of the princess.

The prompt for making me consolidate my above views that the news items that appeared in the Deccan Chronicle and Yahoo!, concluding that music could one day be used as a therapeutic tool for blood pressure control and heart patient rehabilitation, according to a new study. I am summarising the observations in the news items as follows.

Previous studies have shown that music with faster tempos resulted in increased breathing, heart rate and blood pressure.

Music can lower blood pressure, basal metabolism and respiration rates, thus lessening physiological responses to stress

And when the music was paused, breathing, heart rate and blood pressure decreased, sometimes below the beginning rate. Slower music caused declines in heart rates.

The new study showed that swelling crescendos appear to induce moderate arousal while decrescendos induce relaxation.

Music induces a continuous, dynamic - and to some extent predictable - change in the cardiovascular system.

It is not only the emotion that creates the cardiovascular changes, but this study suggests that also the opposite might be possible, that cardiovascular changes may be the substrate for emotions, likely in a bi-directional way.

The study made with 24 healthy Caucasians who were made to listen to five random tracks of classical music through headphones and two minutes silence was given.

The study showed that every crescendo led to increased narrowing of blood vessels under the skin, increased blood pressure and heart rate and increased respiration amplitude.

During the silent pause, changes decreased, with blood vessels under the skin dilating and marked reductions in heart rate and blood pressure.

It also reduced heart rate and other variables, indicating relaxation. Moreover, music phrases around 10 seconds long synchronized inherent cardiovascular rhythm.

The study is published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. (ANI)