April 8, 2016
Singing could boost our immune system, according to a study by a team of British researchers from Imperial College of London.
The choir against cancer?
What if singing had positive effects on our health? This is supported by a team of British researchers from the Imperial College of London, who published a study in this direction, in the journal ECancer Medical Science. According to them, people who sing regularly strengthen their immune systems and are better able to protect themselves against a certain number of pathologies, in particular certain cancers.
To reach these conclusions, the researchers asked 200 people who sang regularly in a choir to take their tests. A quarter of them suffered from cancer. Saliva samples were taken from these volunteer candidates before and after singing for 1 hour. In parallel, other tests aiming to calculate the levels of hormones and other proteins were carried out.
Surprising results
This experience was very instructive for the researchers. She indeed revealed that stress hormones such as cortisol decreased significantly after an hour of singing. But that’s not all: the degree of inflammation in the body was also reduced and cytokines, which have the role of activating immune cells, had increased.
According to a number of studies, singing would also act as an anti-depressant, it would help fight against stress and put your breathing properly. So, to start the day off right, plug in your favorite music and sing along!
To read also: Music therapy: what is it?
