Music Eases Cancer Patients' Anxiety

Here’s another benefit to listening to music beyond the sheer enjoyment of it. It can help cancer patients ease their anxiety and improve their mood, pain, and quality of life. That’s the conclusion of a study of nearly 2000 patients at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

In addition, compared to standard treatments, the researchers found listening to music brought about a considerable reduction in heart and respiratory rates, and blood pressure. This was the case when patients listened to pre-recorded music or had sessions with trained music therapists.

Bottom line the researchers say, music is useful as a complementary therapy for people with cancer.