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More new research on music with surgery!

August 27th, 2009 · Music and Surgery

Now anyone can have music during surgery!

Research has proven beyond any doubt that music during surgery is a powerful adjunct. As my pre-programmed, cordless headphones hit the market, research studies in hospitals and clinics from around the world pour into medical journals about the benefits of music to the patient, during surgery! Surgeons have been using their own iPods and CDs during surgeries for a couple of decades, but the majority of people did not realize that the patient’s body was responding to the music too and that patient needed a very different type of music! As a musicologist with clinical/hospital training I have chosen the perfect music for YOUR surgery. Get them now and be prepared! Send my surgical headphones now.

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What really killed Mozart? You’ll be surprised!

August 22nd, 2009 · The Mozart Effect...why Mozart?

European researchers investigating records of deaths in Vienna around the time of Mozart’s death at the age of 35 on 5 December 1791 suggest that the composer may have died from a streptococcal throat infection that led to a fatal kidney syndrome.The study is the work of first author Richard HC Zegers from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and colleagues Andreas Weigl from the University of Vienna in Austria and Andrew Steptoe from University College London in the UK, and is published online in the 18 August issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The early death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has fascinated people all over the world for over 200 years, with some believing he was poisoned by a rival, while others have suggested he died from kidney failure, Henoch-Schönlein purpura (a condition where blood vessels become inflamed), trichinosis (a parasite disease caused by eating raw or undercooked pork), and many other causes.

For the study, Zegers and colleagues examined the official daily register of deaths in Vienna and compared it to what witnesses said at around the time of the composer’s death.

They analyzed all deaths recorded in Vienna during the three months from November 1791 to January 1792 and then also during the same three months in 1790 to 1791 and 1792 to 1793.

According to eyewitness accounts at the time, Mozart’s body was very swollen before he died, suggesting he had severe edema (swelling caused by excess fluid in bodily tissues).

After analysing the records and comparing them to the eyewitness accounts, the researchers found that:
5,011 adults (3,442 men, 1,569 women) died in total in Vienna over the 3 periods.

The mean age of death for men was 45.5 years (standard deviation SD, 18.5) and for women it was 54.5 years (SD, 19.9).

The most commonly recorded cause of death was tuberculosis (TB) and related conditions.

The second most common was cachexia (wasting syndrome) and malnutrition, and the third most common was edema.

Deaths from edema were significantly higher among younger men the weeks surrounding Mozart’s death compared with the same period in preceding and following years.

This minor epidemic may have started in the city’s military hospital.
Zegers and colleagues concluded that their analysis was:

“Consistent with Mozart’s last illness and death being due to a streptococcal infection leading to an acute nephritic syndrome caused by poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis.”

Streptococcal infection is caused by the Streptococcus bacteria of which there are many strains, including some that cause a scarlet fever rash.

In the throat the infection ranges from mild to very severe and can lead to complications such as rheumatic fever and, as the authors suggest in Mozart’s case, a rare kidney condition called poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis.

Acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis is an inflammation of the glomeruli in the kidneys caused by an immune system reaction to streptococcal infection. The kidney’s glomeruli play an essential role in filtering the blood.

Zegers and colleagues also said it was possible that scarlet fever killed Mozart, because it leads to the same kidney complication, but given the evidence from the records they examined, they thought this was less likely.

“The Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: An Epidemiologic Perspective.”
Richard H.C. Zegers, Andreas Weigl, and Andrew Steptoe.
Annals of Internal Medicine Volume 151 Issue 4, Pages 274-278, 18 August 2009.

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Surgical Headphones Now Available for Other Medical Use! UPDATE

August 16th, 2009 · Announcements, Music in the Hospital

Since writing this post, I have been asked to create pre-programmed headphones for lots of new medical situations including:

  • Chemotherapy
  • Radiation
  • Rehab from broken hip
  • Kidney dialysis
  • Heart valve replacement
  • Labor and delivery
  • Parkinson’s patient
  • Fear of flying in a helicopter across the Aegean
  • And now…………Dentistry!!!

The possible uses are limitless and can be used for years to come after the surgery with additional music of your choice!

Yesterday I went to visit a dear friend in the hospital who has been in a serious auto accident and now has nine broken bones. Thank God, bones can heal, but she is also diabetic and has other complications. Another friend had suggested that I program some of my wireless, cordless headphones with her favorite classical piano music, as well as some hymns. And so I did! I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so good about something I did to help a sick person with music. She appeared to be thrilled with my headphones and was listening as I left her with a big, serene smile on her face.Since I wrote this, I now have come up with a totally different purpose for the headphones.  A few weeks ago, a lady called and asked about using music for a helicopter flight she will be taking while visiting the Greek Islands.  Apparently, their travel agent failed to get them on the private jet they would have taken with others, and the only choices were a helicopter flight or a ferry, which took three hours.  The lady described herself as “skittish about such things under the best of circumstances.”  She was not sure how music could help her, but had heard about the headphones and asked for my help.  She will be choosing her favorite calming music that she already owns in her CD library and will load these songs onto the headphones for a calmer and more soothing experience!

There are literally hundreds of ways that our Serenity Headphones can be used to improve your quality of life.  What will YOU choose?

The surgical serenity headphones are programmable for any health/wellness/illness condition. Order some today for someone YOU love! www.surgicalheadphones.com.

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The Mozart Effect: What You Wanted to Know but were Afraid to Ask

August 7th, 2009 · The Mozart Effect...why Mozart?


One of the most frequent questions I get is about the so-called Mozart Effect. As a friend of Don Campbell, the man who wrote the book and coined the phrase, I answer questions as best I can. As I write in my blog www.whymozart.blogspot.com, the media got hold of the phrase “The Mozart Effect” and commercialized it far more than Don ever had. Articles began to appear stating that listening to Mozart’s music would raise your child’s IQ, but of course that would be impossible!
Just a few minutes ago I came across this YouTube video that also has a lot of explanation about the Mozart Effect and i wanted to share it with all of my followers! Let me know what you think!

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Research shows lullabies help preemies with pain

August 7th, 2009 · Music with Newborns and Preemies

It’s Official: Music can help preemies with pain

“Music may reduce pain and improve behavioral states in premature infants, researchers found.”

LITTLE FALLS, N.J., May 29 — Music may reduce pain and improve behavioral states in premature infants, researchers found.

A systematic review of nine studies investigating the effects of music on outcomes in premature babies found preliminary evidence for therapeutic benefits, Manoj Kumar, M.D., of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and colleagues reported online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

But because of the methodological weaknesses of some of the studies included in the review, a meta-analysis could not be performed and the findings need to be confirmed in more rigorous trials, they said.
Music is increasingly being used in neonatal units to improve behavioral or physiological outcomes and to manage pain during common procedures. Benefits include calmer infants and parents, stable physiological parameters, higher oxygen saturation, faster weight gain, and shorter hospital stays, the researchers said.

To document such benefits, the researchers conducted a review of nine randomized trials reported between 1989 and 2006 that studied use of music on outcomes in neonates. Six studies evaluated music for painful procedures including circumcision and heel prick.

The studies used various types of music, but lullabies were the most common.

http://www.healingmusicenterprises.com/products/lullabies/lullabies.html

The methodological quality of the studies was generally poor, the researchers said.

One high-quality pilot study of 23 infants undergoing circumcision showed benefits of music for the outcomes of heart rate, oxygen saturation, and pain, while two low-quality studies found no difference.

Three studies evaluated the effects of music on pain from heel prick, and found it may be beneficial for measures of behavior and pain, but they were of low quality, the researchers said.

One study of music-reinforced non-nutritive sucking among 32 poorly feeding preterm infants found a significant increase in oral feeding rates compared with controls.

The researchers said it would be of particular interest to confirm the effects of using music to improve oral feeding rates, which could have the potential of “saving finite useful healthcare resources.”

Another showed significant benefits in terms of heart rate and behavioral scores with recorded music versus no music in stable preterm infants.

But one methodologically strong study found no difference on the effects of recorded instrumental lullabies in 22 preterm infants with chronic lung disease compared with a no-music control group.

In general, the researchers said, the studies demonstrate that music may be beneficial in terms of behavioral states and pain, although they showed inconsistent effects overall on physiological measures.

Therefore, they said, benefits need to be confirmed in future well-designed, high quality trials.
By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: May 29, 2009
Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston and
Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner

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A new performance by “Meeow-zart”

August 6th, 2009 · Music Healing and Animals

This is called the “CatCerto” and is a very clever assemblage of brief clips of “Nora” the cat pawing “Mozart” at the piano. Very clever indeed!

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Harpists Bring Comfort to the Dying

August 2nd, 2009 · Music Medicine

I’ve been writing about music’s healing power for over 12 years now and I have seen the public’s awareness of the power grow and grow. Today, many hospitals have music therapy departments and the average person knows what is meant by music therapy, music healing, and music medicine.
Almost daily, there are articles about all the ways that music can be used to improve the quality of life and even heal illnesses. Last week there was a wonderful article about harpists playing music for people that are in hospice units or slowly slipping way at home.
” There was nothing more to do for this 62-year-old woman — no oxygen or other life support, just a morphine drip to keep her as comfortable as possible.

That, and the ministrations of Jane Franz.

Franz brought her harp to the foot of Carolyn’s bed, and started to play, weaving a hypnotic and soothing melody. Occasionally, she paused to adjust to the rhythm of Carolyn’s heartbeat and breathing. After 20 minutes, the last notes settled like a benediction over the room.

Three family members sat at her bedside, sometimes holding hands. There were tears and hugs. Franz returned the next day to play one last time, and then Carolyn died.

This is what Franz does. As a music-thanatologist on the staff of Sacred Heart Hospital, she uses music to bring comfort to the dying.

“Doctors can write lots of medical prescriptions and not get the right response,” said Dr. Stewart Mones, medical director at Sacred Heart. “There are times when no medicines are as effective as music therapy.”

Music-thanatology — “Thanatology” derives from “Thantos,” the Greek word for death — has been around in various forms for centuries. Its roots extend at least back to the monastic medicine of Benedictine monks in 11th-century Cluny, France.

As practiced today, it was developed over more than 30 years by Therese Schroeder-Sheker. Her Chalice of Repose program was located in Colorado and Montana before 2002, when it moved to Mt. Angel in the quiet farm country of the Willamette Valley south of Portland.
It stresses carefully individualized “prescriptive music,” a concept Schroeder-Sheker developed in which a harpist observes the body processes and mental state of a patient and adjusts tone and tempo to match.

Music thanatologists say they use the harp for the many sounds it can make and for its warm, low, resonant tones. And it’s portable.

Their “vigils,” as they are called, are held at no cost to the patient at a growing number of hospitals and hospices across the United States and elsewhere.”

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John Rutter and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

July 27th, 2009 · music and spirituality

For me, music has always been a path to the God of my understanding. I’ve always loved the performances of the Mormon tabernacle Choir and I’ve always loved the music of John Rutter. Hope you’ll enjoy this performance of both of these!

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