By : Lifestyle Desk
New Delhi
Pop, rock, hip-hop, or jazz, we all love music and whether it calms our nerves or gets us into a groovy mood, it’s generally proven to have a positive effect on our mood and spirits. But beyond the positive effects on our mental health, music can also have a profound impact on major bodily issues like diabetes.
Yes, music therapy can help in lowering your blood sugar levels if you suffer from diabetes. But how does listening to certain melodies affect your physical well being at all?
Music can significantly influence our body’s endocrine system. Listening to music, particularly tunes we enjoy, can trigger the brain to release a variety of hormones. Dr Sonali Shivaji Kagne, consultant, Endocrinology at Sir HN Reliance Hospital, Mumbai tells indianexpress.com, “For instance, dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward, is released, which can improve mood and reduce stress. Additionally, music can lower the stress hormone, which is beneficial for overall health.”
Music can also stimulate the release of endorphins, which serve as natural painkillers and mood enhancers. Music therapy has demonstrated benefits such as lowering blood pressure, improving heart rate variability, and enhancing overall emotional well-being. It is also being investigated as an option for various mental health issues, palliative care for cancer patients, and pain management.
But how effective is it for diabetes patients?
Dr Kagne mentioned a research being conducted in the role of music in insulin secretion and diabetes management. “Scientists have developed an artificial ‘designer cell’ that releases insulin when exposed to specific sound frequencies (such as 50 Hz )and volumes. They used this cell to research the effect of music on insulin release by placing it on some animals’ stomachs.”
“Certain rock songs triggered roughly 70 percent of the insulin response within five minutes, and all of it within 15 minutes in mice model- comparable to the natural glucose-induced insulin response of healthy counterparts,” says Dr Kagne.
Is music therapy a viable treatment option for diabetes patients?
While music therapy may show some positive effects in terms of insulin, there are limitations in extrapolating these results to larger population at this stage. But hopefully, with future research music therapy may become a significant part of diabetic control regimen.
