You’ve been diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD) – which is code for, your ticker could blow any minute. Your heart’s impending demise, has sucked the “happiness” out of your life. No more sitting on the couch, watching the game and eating what you like – you’re permanently on diet and regular exercise sessions, are now mandatory.

Moments of bliss are few and far between.

Everything that was pleasant, has now become a health hazard.

Well, not quite EVERYTHING.

A musical interlude…

Coronary artery disease arises because the cells lining your blood vessels, lose their groove.

But MUSIC is the groove…. so

To help your endothelial cells find their groove, you need to sit in your favourite chair, turn up the speakers on the stereo system and soak up THE MUSIC, for at least 30 minutes a day.

This is a prescription that is kind of pleasant ! And it WORKS…. it’s been scientifically proved.

The music effect

A team of researchers from Siberia proved this prescription works, when they tested out the effects of music, alone and with exercise, in a group of 74 CAD patients.

The patients enrolled in the study, were divided into three groups

• Group one, 33 people, did physical jerks three times a week and 30 minutes of music therapy every day
• Group two, 31 people, just did the physical jerks three times a week
• Group three, 10 people, just did music therapy every day.

The treatment programme lasted just 3 weeks.

Endothelial cells dancing to the rhythm

The researchers measured the effects of the various interventions, by keeping tabs on nitric oxide levels, before and after the treatments.

Happy endothelium cells produce more nitric oxide, which give them the flexibility to respond to the ups and downs of daily life. Not so happy endothelium cells, find themselves short of nitric oxide, which impedes their ability to expand / dilate. And this shortage of nitric oxide, contributes to higher blood pressure.

Music makes for happy blood vessels

As expected, the research team confirmed – 3 sessions of aerobic exercise a week, ups nitric oxide levels. The levels went from 33.0±13.0 to 42.8±11.0 µmol/l, a statistically significant improvement.

This is the reason your doctor wants you to exercise. It does HELP, even if it doesn’t always feel that wonderful.

But, music also produced improvement. Alone.

And when it was combined with exercise. The group that exercised AND listened to music showed the greatest improvement – their nitric oxide levels hopped from 34.5±7.1 to 49.6±12.6 µmol/l.

Heart’s in high spirits

So the list of things to do to manage your heart condition is not all gloom and doom. Listening to a 30 minute “symphony of sound”, snuggled up in your favourite chair, is good medicine.

The actual medicine has yet to be pinned down, the research team speculate the effect might be due to the release of endorphins, one of our body’s HAPPY chemicals.

So take your medicine………..

Enjoy 30 minutes of YOUR favourite music every day. Doctor’s orders !

Listening to Favourite Music Improves Endothelial Function in CAD – press release from European Society of Cardiology 

Further reading

Volunteering creates a little slack in tight blood vessels	Sea breezes may not be what your heart desires	Suffering from high blood pressure – you need a vampire ?