Sound & healing - Shorts

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Feb-March, 2003 by Jule Klotter

In a talk for the Royal Bank Calgary International Organ Festival & Competition Speaker Series (August 12, 2002), Dr. Mitchell L. Gaynor explained how he uses sound and music in his practice as an oncologist and hematologist. Dr. Gaynor is director of medical oncology at Cornell University's Center of Complementary and Integrative Medicine. Recognizing the "tidal wave of fear" that can accompany a diagnosis of cancer, Dr. Gaynor has sought ways to help people reduce stress and find "a place of inner harmony, which makes up the core of our own beings." He says that one of the first things he does is to teach patients how to breathe; fear and stress result in very shallow breathing, leading to poor oxygenation. Guided imagery, meditation, and chanting are all tools for encouraging deep breathing and relieving fear and stress.

Dr. Gaynor especially encourages using the voice through chanting or singing. "Voice is nothing more than audible breath. Your voice is one of the most powerful healing tools that I know of," he told his audience. Dr. Gaynor says that chants -- Tibetan Buddhist, Sanskit, and Gregorian -- share fundamental sounds and basic rhythms that have a positive effect on the body. He has found that using voice and breath in chanting, enhanced with the vibration and tones of Tibetan or quartz crystal singing bowls, are especially beneficial for restoring harmony. He told his audience that if one puts water into one of these singing bowls, then makes them sound by spinning a stick around the rim, "beautiful geometric shapes, almost like snowflakes appear in them. Same thing is happening in your body, in your cells."

Listening to music can also reduce stress. Dr. Gaynor talked about a Japanese study in which stress hormone levels (ACTH and cortisol) were measured in surgical patients just before anesthesia was given. Patients who listened to classical music immediately before showed a drop in stress hormones of more than 50% from their baseline. Patients who did not listen to music had a rise in their stress hormone levels by more than 50%. Classical music is not the only music to get this result. Other research has shown that any type of music that a patient finds pleasurable will reduce stress hormones in patients undergoing painful medical tests.

Music also promotes healing and recovery. Studies have shown that patients in coronary care units have fewer complications, less rapid heartbeats or arrhythmias, and fewer problems with high blood pressure if they listen to classical music within the first 24 hours. In another study, premature infants who were sung to every day gained weight faster and left intensive care more quickly than babies who weren't. One nurse involved in the research invented a nipple that encouraged preemies to suck by playing a lullaby. Dr. Gaynor said: "When you consider the fact that hearing begins four and a half months before the fetus is born...you realize that using music and harmony and voice as a regular practice, both for wellness and recovery from illness, is one of the most powerful things that people could do."

Dr. Mitchell L. Gaynor. Pathways to Wellness: Sounds of Healing. http://triumgroup 3, of 29 patients, 23 had a decrease of 28% at 3 months and 44% at 6 months, and 6 patients had a 13% and 22% decrease, respectively. There were no effects on anti-thyroglobulin antibody levels in any group.

Comment: These results suggest that administration of 200 mcg/day of selenomethionine, either alone or in combination with L-thyroxine, markedly decreases anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody levels in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis. The mechanism of action of selenium is not known, although this trace mineral is known to influence thyroid hormone metabolism, immune function, and inflammatory pathways. It is possible that larger doses of selenium would have been effective for the patients who did not respond to 200 mcg/day; additional research is needed to assess that possibility.

Duntas LH, et al. Kinetics and effects of selenomethionine in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis. J Endocrinol Invest 2002;25(Suppl to No. 7):21.