Joyful Music and Laughter Do the Heart Good

Music that makes you happy also benefits your cardiovascular system. That encouraging finding emerged from a small study presented in Nov. 2008 at the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Assoc. in New Orleans. Ten study participants who listened to self-selected tunes that "made them feel good and brought them a sense of joy," experienced a healthy increase in blood flow that improved circulation, according to researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

"The active listening to music evokes such raw positive emotions likely in part due to the release of endorphins, part of that mind-heart connection that we yearn to learn so much more about. Needless to say, these results were music to my ears, because they signal another preventive strategy that we may incorporate in our daily lives to promote heart health." To read more about the study go to www.umm.edu/news/releases/music-cardiovascular.htm.