How singing calmed patient
Thursday March 31st, 2011
Some patients may need to be allowed to sing before operations to help reduce their blood pressure, doctors said yesterday.
The
idea comes after an elderly woman experienced a dramatic improvement after
she embarked on her own calming therapy before surgery - a good religious
sing-song.
Experts say the introduction of singing would build on the use of recorded music to help calm patients.
The finding, reported in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, came after attempts to reduce the woman's blood pressure with drugs failed.
The woman, aged 76, from the Dominican Republic, was due to have a total knee replacement under a charitable programme run from Boston, USA, but her blood pressure shot up as the operation approached.
When she arrived in hospital the woman's blood pressure was 160/90 mm Hg but later it increased to 240/120 mm Hg. At this point her operation was postponed - and might have been cancelled as the Boston medical team had limited time to spend in her country.
Doctors said the woman then suggested she should sing - as she often did this to help herself get to sleep. Two songs later her blood pressure had fallen to 180/90 mm Hg.
Dr Nina Niu, of Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, suggested wide-scale studies might evaluate the benefits of singing.
She said: "Singing is simple, safe, and free. Patients should be encouraged to sing if they wish."
Singing Intervention for Preoperative Hypertension Prior to Total Joint Replacement: A Case Report. Nina N. Niu, María Teresa Perez and Jeffrey N. Katz. Arthritis Care and Research March 30, 2011 (DOI: 10.1002/acr.20406)
Tags: Heart Health | Mental Health | North America | Rheumatology
Printer friendly page