Therapeutic benefits of music being used to treat Alzheimer’s, addiction, and depression

In recent years we have found a whole array of new therapies including music, dance, and pet therapy that are helping people work through their depression, addictions and even with diseases like Alzheimer’s.

The Globe and Mail: Anyone who has blasted Arcade Fire before a party can attest to music’s transformative powers. But music isn’t just a mood-booster: Music therapists use pitch, rhythm, melody and lyrics in specific ways, with the explicit intent of affecting cognition or emotion in the person who is hearing them.

Music therapy became a clinical profession in the 1940s, after doctors and nurses noticed that war veterans suffering emotional and physical trauma responded well to musicians who gave volunteer performances in hospitals. Nevertheless, the profession spent decades on the fringes of medical science, until the early 1990s when advances in neuro-imaging technologies confirmed that musical activities had profound effects on the brain.

Since then, researchers at the frontiers of music therapy have developed strong evidence that musical interventions can reduce chronic pain, help stroke patients regain speech, increase social engagement in children with autism and help patients with acquired brain injury or Parkinson’s disease improve their gait.

“It’s really its own science,” said Dr. Larry Frisch, an associate professor of population and public health at the University of British Columbia, who helped bring together leading neuroscientists, psychologists and music therapists for a four-day conference on music therapy earlier in May at UBC.

Presenters shared findings showing that music therapy can calm Alzheimer’s patients, help addicts commit to treatment, and ease suffering in people with clinical depression and anxiety. Here are just a few of the ways that music can heal.

Alzheimer’s disease

Music therapy improves behaviour in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease, reducing agitation and irritability as well as eating difficulties and sleep problems, according to preliminary findings from a study conducted at UBC.

Lead researcher Dr. Robin Hsiung, an associate professor of neurology at UBC, described the calming effects of music therapy as almost equivalent to that of a tranquilizer, “but with much less side effects,” he said.

Hsiung said patients’ improvements lasted for several days – and up to a week – after a one-hour individual session with a music therapist. The therapist talked to patients about their musical tastes and past experiences with music, and engaged them in activities such as singing or listening to familiar music.

He and his colleagues used standard measures of behaviour in Alzheimer’s patients to monitor any changes during the 12-week active study period compared with patients in a control group. They also measured patients’ levels of the hormone cortisol, a biological marker for stress. Again, patients who received music therapy “were less stressed by cortisol measure,” he said.

He said the study, which has not yet been published, was more rigorous in design than earlier studies showing a benefit in Alzheimer’s patients who had music therapy. Hsiung and colleagues excluded patients with an extensive music background, who might respond more favourably to music. In addition, the study included a control group of patients who knew they would receive music therapy but remained on a wait list throughout the active study period. Without a comparison group, Hsiung explained, the researchers would have no way of knowing whether patients were getting better on their own.

Hsiung said it remains unclear whether the behavioural improvements in Alzheimer’s patients were due to the music itself or to the caring provided by the music therapist. But “now that we have some numbers, we can design a different study to look at that specific aspect,” he said.

Addiction

Music therapy can increase motivation for treatment in patients with substance-abuse disorders, improve decision-making skills and help prevent relapse, said Beth Clark, a music therapist and registered clinical counsellor who has worked with addicts in the Vancouver area.

She cited randomized controlled trials conducted by Dr. Michael Silverman, director of music therapy at the University of Minnesota. One of his studies, published in 2012, involved inpatients in a detox centre who were randomly selected to either attend a songwriting workshop or remain on a wait list for music therapy. Compared with the wait-listed group, patients who received music therapy through songwriting activities had significantly higher motivation and readiness for treatment, the study found. “It showed results after just one session,” Clark said.

Many addicts suffer from cognitive impairments that interfere with their ability to abstain from drugs or alcohol, Clark added. Recent studies from the University of Miami suggest that music-based cognitive rehabilitation may help reduce impulsivity, which can lead to relapse. In this method, a patient may be asked to play simple notes on a keyboard in time to a metronome while the therapist plays other rhythms at random. Researchers theorize that, over time, the attention required by the task may strengthen executive functions involved in decision-making.

Music therapists typically engage addicts in music-making. Learning a new instrument can help patients find something productive to occupy their time, Clark said. Joining a drumming circle may benefit those suffering from trauma, who may be uncomfortable with verbal therapies. In other cases, songwriting sessions can help patients process any mixed feelings they may have about treatment. For example, a music therapist may encourage patients to rewrite the lyrics to a blues song. Patients respond to this format because “you get to complain in the blues,” Clark said, and “it’s validating to have your thoughts heard and put into a song.”

Depression and anxiety

Listening to music changes a person’s experience of time, space, body and relationship, said Dr. Jennifer Nicol, a music therapist and associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Saskatchewan.

For patients with clinical depression and anxiety, the ability to “get lost in music” can bring a sense of emotional freedom. But music isn’t simply a distraction, Nicol said: “It’s a meaningful reprieve.” Patients in her studies have compared listening to music with being in the company of a long-time companion who helped them to cope.

While many people listen to music to help their mood, music therapists encourage patients to take a more intentional approach, Nicol said. She mentioned a patient confined to a bed, who suffered anxiety when she awoke in the middle of the night. A therapist helped her select soothing music to play on a device beside her bed whenever she had trouble getting back to sleep. The patient’s anxiety decreased just knowing the music player was there, she said. In other cases, a music therapist may coax a withdrawn patient into musical improvisation or songwriting. Music is so seductive, Nicol said, that “people get engaged despite themselves.”

Increasingly, researchers are studying the psychological effects of music in randomized controlled trials. For example, a study published in 2012 in the Clinical Journal of Pain measured levels of depression and anxiety in chronic-pain sufferers. Patients in the musical intervention group listened to a standardized 20-minute session of instrumental music from a genre of their choice twice a day, for 60 days. At a 90-day followup, patients who received the musical intervention had a 50-per-cent reduction in anxiety and depression according to standard tests, compared with a 5- to 7-per-cent reduction in the control group.

Other studies showing that specific types of music may enhance relaxation have given rise to the notion of a musical prescription for anxiety or depression. But according to Nicol, the most important thing for patients’ psychological well-being is “familiarity and choice and enjoyment of the music they’re listening to,” she said.

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Pet Therapy

Pets are way better than Therapy!

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Technorati Tags: Music,Depression,Alzheimer's,Addiction,Therapy,Music Therapy

At 102 Years Old, Birthday Girl Finally Stops Smoking

Council and Heal: Birthday girl Clara Cowell has proved that it's never too late to change bad habits. At 102 years old, she finally quit smoking after picking up the habit in 1931. She did not even quit smoking because of her health - she finally stopped the habit because her family was worried that falling ash would set her house on fire.

According to the Daily Mail, Ms. Cowell has smoked two to three cigarettes a day since picking up the habit - amounting to about 60,000 cigarettes in her lifetime. But the centenarian finally quit at the urges of her family, who worried about the safety of her habit.

Ms. Cowell lives independently. Her daughters say that the secret to her success may be rooted in hard work and poverty, but also something more surprising: her cigarettes and her daily habit of a cup of tea with whiskey.

Indeed, Ms. Cowell's life has been rather tough. When her husband, a coal worker, was called in to fight during World War II, Ms. Cowell tasked herself with raising their four children by herself and working in an ammunition factory. A tailoress by trade, Ms. Cowell sewed parachutes. She says that, like many of the other girls, she took some silk for herself to sew some underwear. She says that the war was hard, that there was never enough to eat or time to sleep, but they did not suffer from the experience.

Ms. Cowell suffered from tuberculosis as a child, but does not believe in medication. At her age, she is now so sprightly that she wowed crowds at her 101^st birthday as she performed a waltz. She says that she used to love to dance when she was young, particularly the waltz and the foxtrot.

Ms. Cowell appears to still have quite a bit of life left. Her daughters reported that they spent her birthday at a pub.

In addition to her four children, Ms. Cowell has nine grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.

*We are certainly not encouraging people to smoke or to continue their negative habits until late in life.  Some of us are blessed with great genes and they can do everything wrong… and still live into their 100’s with overall good health.  But  most of us aren’t that lucky.  And with the cuts before us, especially for seniors, the better you live throughout your life, the better chance you have for living longer in the future.

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Technorati Tags: Aging,smoking,aging,seniors,ObamaCare,death panels,rationing,Complete Lives System,Soylent Green,healthy living,growing old

Binge Drinking

Binge drinkers may not drink every day. They may drink weekly or less often, although studies show most drink about twice a week. They may or may not be addicted to alcohol.

Binge drinking statistics tell us that binge drinking peaks between the ages of 18 and 22. Many of these drinkers are college students. However, high school students binge drink as well. Statistics indicate that binge drinking often begins as young as 13 years of age.
The Dangers of Binge Drinking

There are a large number of dangers of binge drinking. Health-related binge drinking statistics can be alarming. The following health problems have been found to be associated with binge drinking:

• Alcohol poisoning.
• Liver disease.
• High blood pressure, stroke, and other forms of cardiovascular disease.
• Neurological damage.
• Sexually transmitted diseases.
• Unintentional pregnancy.
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (if pregnant women binge drink).
• Unintentional injuries (such as car accidents, falls, etc.).
• Intentional injuries (such as injuries from firearms, domestic violence, etc.).

In addition, it should be noted that the younger one begins drinking, the more likely they are to develop alcohol dependence. For instance, nearly 25% of those who begin drinking alcohol before the age of 17 become alcoholics, compared to 10% of those who begin drinking alcohol after 21 years of age.

Alcohol Poisoning

Alcohol poisoning is one of the greatest dangers of binge drinking. It is a serious condition that can occur when the blood alcohol concentration rises too high. Symptoms include severe vomiting, depressed respirations, and seizures. It can result in coma and even death. Alcohol poisoning requires medical attention and often requires hospitalization in order to stabilize and monitor the patient. Binge drinking is not the only cause of alcohol poisoning, but it is a common cause.

Prevalence of Binge Drinking

The binge drinking statistics tell us that binge drinking as a whole is on the decline, yet it is still very common. Consider the following statistics:

• Binge drinking is most common between ages 18 and 22.
• 42% of college students report binge drinking.
• One in five college students is a frequent (weekly) binge drinker.
• Half of all students who binge drink do so more than once a week.
• Two-thirds of alcohol consumed by college students is consumed by binge drinkers.
• 60% of all problems with the police on college campuses (such as injuries, vandalism, etc.) involve binge drinkers.

College students often over-estimate the number of their peers who drink, however, and the amount of alcohol consumed by their peers, creating a false sense of pressure to drink.

Preventing Binge Drinking

Binge drinking statistics tell us that the following interventions help to reduce the incidence of binge drinking:

• Reduce access to alcohol on college campus by having fewer stores selling alcohol nearby.
• Education by high schools and colleges about the dangers of binge drinking.
• Physician screening, counseling, and referral for treatment of alcohol problems.

Some also suggest raising the cost of alcoholic beverages and taxes on alcohol to prevent binge drinking. As you may imagine, this strategy is at best controversial. However, it would likely cut down on alcohol abuse altogether, not just binge drinking. It would particularly cut down on alcohol use and abuse among young people, who have less discretionary income, and might have a fairly significant impact on underage drinking.

Technorati Tags: binge drinking,alcoholism,addiction,teens,students,escapism

Obesity in a Lo-Cal Can

People are still surprised to learn diet sodas don’t give you what they promise. You may drink them because they have no calories. But diet sodas don’t help you drop weight. They make you fat instead. And you can get hooked on them.

I came across an article in JAMA about just how addicting those diet soft drinks are. When you drink them, changes take place in your brain that make you behave differently.1

Your self-control goes out the window. Your body actually becomes addicted to the unnatural sweetness like it’s a drug.

In one study, animals had the choice between cocaine and saccharin. Ninety four percent chose saccharin – even if they were already addicted to the cocaine.2

Early man had none of the sweet foods you have today. And this is when your taste receptors evolved. So now, when you’re exposed to hyper-sweet artificial sweeteners, your brain is tricked into thinking it’s getting nutrition.

When your drink contains aspartame, sucralose, or any other artificial sweetener, you over-stimulate your sweetness receptors. It changes the way you think about the way things should taste.

You crave high-intensity sweetness. And naturally sweet foods like fruit don’t taste as good to you. Vegetables lose their appeal, because they’re not sweet.

Your gut has sweetness receptors, too. It’s all ready to absorb nutrients, so you get a surge in hormones, like insulin. But when the calories don’t arrive, your body tells your brain to go out and get them.

Your appetite increases, and you get cravings that cause you to overeat. What’s worse, you turn to high-carbohydrate foods and sweets to make up the calorie void.3

But now, the insulin you’ve poured into your blood tells your body to turn whatever you do eat into fat.

I read one study of almost 2,600 people. Those who drank diet sodas had a 47 percent higher body mass index (BMI) than those who didn’t, and their risk of obesity was doubled.4

The solution? Go back to the real thing.

When you switch to naturally sweet drinks, your taste receptors adjust and go back to normal. You regain the ability to taste the sweetness found in natural foods and drinks. Your nutrition and the quality of your diet improve.5 And it’s far easier to drop weight.6

There are a lot of natural juices at the grocery store. But every one goes through processing and sits on the shelves, losing nutrients quickly. If you must buy them, stick to organic brands in glass bottles such as R.W. Knudsen, Lakewood, or Santa Cruz.

My suggestion is to invest in a juicer or a heavy-duty blender.
Citrus juicers are only for citrus like oranges or grapefruits. Juice extractors are for juicing fruits and vegetables.

A cheaper extractor will handle soft vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, and most fruits, but you’ll need a pricier, more powerful model if you want to juice hard vegetables like beets and large carrots.

I like to use a heavy duty, multi-use blender. It keeps the fiber in the drink you make. Throw in bits of vegetables and fruits, add water and ice, blend, and out comes a delicious drink in seconds.

If you blend hard vegetables, you’ll need a strong motor. Get one with as much as 2 hp. Many come with a 7-year warranty.

But there is a world of drinks you can easily make and enjoy without any additional equipment…

• Brew herbal tea and use honey to sweeten it. Cool, add ice, and you’ve got a naturally sweet drink. Look for organic teas like Yogi, Tazo, and Rishi.
• Squeeze lemons and add to filtered water to make lemonade. If it’s too tart, add raw, whole sugar or honey to taste.
• You can make a soda-like drink by blending the pulp of one mango and a slice of lemon and lime with 4 cups filtered water.
• Use cut up organic peaches, strawberries, and grapes in any combination. Add ice, filtered water, and blend.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

OCD Drives Man To Mac Attack - 23.000 Times

updated 7:37 a.m. PT, Tues., Sept. 9, 2008

54-year-old says OCD drove him to eat a burger nearly every day since 1972

FOND DU LAC, Wis. - A 54-year-old man says his obsessive-compulsive disorder drove him to eat 

Fifty-four-year-old Don Gorske says he hit the milestone last month, continuing a pleasurable obsession that began May 17, 1972 when he got his first car.

Gorske has kept every burger receipt in a box. He says he was always fascinated with numbers, and watching McDonald's track its number of customers motivated him to track his own consumption.

The only day he skipped a Big Mac was the day his mother died, to respect her request. 

The correctional-institution employee says he doesn't care when people call his Big Mac obsession crazy. He says he's in love with the burgers, which are the highlights of his days.