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Musical Healing

If you've ever had a painful injury, you may be interested to know that music can be therapeutic; it can help lower blood pressure and reduce pain in patients on the mend.

A Harvard surgeon named Claudius Conrad did a simple experiment. He gave earphones to ten patients recovering from surgery. Five listened to Mozart, and five heard nothing. The patients that listened to Mozart had lower blood pressure, less need for pain medication, and had a drop in stress hormones. They also had an increase in pituitary growth hormone, which could work as a sedative.

Mozart was a sickly guy, always battling some illness or infection, so he may have unintentionally composed music that helped him relax and feel better.  The next step in research is to find out if different types of music work better or worse.

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