Listening to your favorite song not only improves mood, but also the effectiveness of treatments for nausea during chemotherapy.
- Chemotherapy, which relies on the use of drugs, can cause nausea.
- The severity of nausea and the distress of patients decreased when they listened to their favorite song each time they had to take their anti-nausea medication.
- Their levels of serotonin release were lower, meaning this nausea-causing neurotransmitter stayed in the blood platelets and was not released to circulate through the body.
Chemotherapy is a treatment for cancer, which is based on the use of drugs. “It aims to eliminate cancer cells wherever they are in the body. Including those that have not been detected by imaging tests. This method works either by destroying them directly or by preventing them from multiplying, precise the National Cancer Institute. To date, several adverse effects of chemotherapy have been reported. Among them, we find diarrhea, hair loss, a skin allergy or inflammation of the mouth. Another possible reaction: nausea.
Chemotherapy: a reduction in the severity of nausea thanks to music
Recently, scientists at Michigan State University (USA) found that anti-nausea drugs were more effective when chemotherapy patients were undergoing treatment while listening to their favorite song. To achieve this discovery, they carried out work published in the journal Clinical Nursing Research.
In this study, researchers asked 12 adults receiving chemotherapy to listen to music for 30 minutes each time they were due to take their anti-nausea medication. Additionally, they listened to their favorite song each time they felt nauseous during the five days following chemotherapy.
According to the results, listening to music reduced the severity of nausea and patients’ distress (how much it bothered them to feel nauseous). However, the team says it’s unclear whether it was the gradual release of the drug that did its job or the benefits of the music.
Lower levels of serotonin release after listening to your favorite song
“When we listen to music, our brain activates all kinds of neurons. (…) Serotonin is the main neurotransmitter that causes nausea caused by chemotherapy. Cancer patients take drugs to block the effects of serotonin”, explained Jason Kiernan, author of the research, in a statement.
In this study, the authors found that patients who listened to their favorite music had the lowest levels of serotonin release, indicating that serotonin remained in the blood platelets and was not released to circulate in the body. body. The results also showed that after listening to “unpleasant” music, patients were more stressed and released more serotonin.
“This finding is intriguing because it provides a neurochemical explanation and a possible way to measure serotonin and serotonin release in blood platelets. In 10 or 20 years, wouldn’t it be great if we could use a non-pharmacological intervention, like listening to your favorite song for 10 minutes, to make a drug more effective?”, concluded Jason Kiernan.
