Working for a research firm, I am continually barraged with new studies stating one thing or another about how raising or lowering a certain variable is certain or uncertain to increase or decrease how healthy or unhealthy you are.
My favorite studies are the ones that are including in my firm's Daily Briefy (The Nations Healtcare News in Five Minutes) under the Et Cetera heading. Today's Et Cetera claimed the following- "Research suggests choral singing has health benefits".
This title will keep a smile on my face for the rest of the afternoon. Below is the article.
Today's song: Warwick Avenue by Duffy
Et cetera: Research suggests choral singing has health benefits
05/27/2008
A growing body of research suggests that singing in professional, community, church, and school choruses may have health benefits, the Boston Globe reports, adding that the findings are “great news” for the approximately 29 million adults and children who participate in such activities. The Globe highlights a 2006 study led by a psychiatrist from the George Washington University’s Center on Aging, Health, and Humanities in which researchers tracked 300 people between the ages of 65 and 103 in three cities. For the study, one half of participants took part in an arts program involving chorale singing while the other half did not. After one year, the researchers found that the singers reported better health than at the outset of the study. Additionally, the singers had fewer falls and exhibited greater improvement in measures of depression, loneliness, and morale compared with the group that did not sing. Moreover, a paper published in 2004 by a musicologist and research fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester found that along with an improvement in mood, a one-hour singing rehearsal appeared to result in the increased production of an immune marker in the saliva of 31 choral singers. While noting that “it’s not clear how much of the health benefit is due to hanging out with other people and how much to the artistic challenge,” the Globe concludes that “for whatever mix of reasons, choral singing is good for your health” (Foreman, Globe, 5/19 [registration required]).
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
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