Cancer patients may benefit from singing in a choir, according to a study published today.
Some 193 singers took part in the research, which showed a reduction in stress hormones together with an increase in levels of cytokines.
The improvement in cytokine levels might help patients fighting cancer – but this has yet to be established.
The research was undertaken by Tenovus Cancer Care and the Royal College of Music and published today in ecancermedicalscience.
The charity Tenovus has been promoting choral singing for patients for some years – and it welcomed the findings which suggested potentially wide-ranging benefits.
The research also found significant improvements in mood among those with the greatest depression – and this was linked to reduced physical inflammation.
Its director of research Dr Ian Lewis said the findings were "really exciting."
He said: "We have been building a body of evidence over the past six years to show that singing in a choir can have a range of social, emotional and psychological benefits, and now we can see it has biological effects too.
“We’ve long heard anecdotal evidence that singing in a choir makes people feel good, but this is the first time it’s been demonstrated that the immune system can be affected by singing."
Rosie Dow, head of the charity’s Sing with Us programme, added: “This research is so exciting, as it echoes everything all our choir members tell us about how singing has helped them.
"I’ve seen peoples’ lives transformed through singing in our choirs so knowing that singing also makes a biological difference will hopefully help us to reach more people with the message that singing is great for you – mind, body and soul.”
Singer Diane Raybould, aged 64, from Bridgend, a breast cancer survivor since the age of 50, said: "The choir is a family, simple as that. Having cancer and losing someone to cancer can be very isolating. With the choir, you can share experiences openly and that is hugely important.”
Singing modulates mood, stress, cortisol, cytokine and neuropeptide activity in cancer patients and carers. ecancermedicalscience 5 April 2016; doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2016.631 [abstract]
Leave a Reply