FEATURE:
Music as a Medicine
PHOTO CREDIT: @armin_lotfi/Unsplash
Could New NHS Trials Provide a Breakthrough in the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Patients and Stressed Medical Staff?
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ALTHOUGH this piece of music-related news…
PHOTO CREDIT: Tessa Rampersad/Unsplash
came online on 5th May, I have been thinking about it them and wondering whether new NHS trials that are going ahead could provide some breakthrough in treating Alzheimer’s patients. I will provide some thoughts and feelings. The Guardian reported the news of this fascinating trial for Alzheimer’s patients and stressed medical staff:
“Now trials are under way at an NHS trust to see if an algorithm can curate music playlists to reduce suffering in Alzheimer’s patients as well as in stressed medical staff.
A test among people with dementia found an algorithm that “prescribes” songs based on listeners’ personal backgrounds and tastes resulted in reductions in heart rate of up to 22%, lowering agitation and distress in some cases.
This week, Lancashire teaching hospitals NHS trust is extending trials to medical staff who worked in critical care during Covid to see if it can ease anxiety and stress. It is also planning to test it on recovering critical care patients, needle-phobic children and outpatients coping with chronic pain in the hope of reducing opiate prescriptions.
The technology operates as a musical “drip”, playing songs to patients and monitoring their heart rates as they listen. A 90-year-old might be prescribed big band music, while a 50-year-old might get a dose of Van Halen and Paul McCartney.
An algorithm allows the software, which is linked to a streaming service like Spotify, to change forthcoming tracks if the prescription doesn’t appear to be working. Its artificial intelligence system assesses the “DNA” of songs, examining 36 different qualities including tempo, timbre, key, time signatures, the amount of syncopation and the lowest notes. Gary Jones, the chief executive of MediMusic, the company developing the software, said these were among the factors that can shape the heart rate and blood pressure response to a track.
PHOTO CREDIT: Hush Naidoo/Unsplash
A trial of 25 people with Alzheimer’s aged from their 60s, to their 90s conducted at the Lancashire NHS trust has shown some promising results, the trust said.
“There has been an up to 22% reduction in heart rates in these patients,” said Dr Jacqueline Twamley, academic research and innovation manager. “Some people it doesn’t affect the heart rate at all, but you can see the effect in their facial expressions and in them tapping along. One patient burst out crying. He said the song brought back happy memories and they were happy tears.”
The playlist of a patient in their 60s included Mull of Kintyre by Wings and Peter Gabriel’s Solsbury Hill, said Twamley, adding: “I thought Mull of Kintyre would increase agitation, but that’s a matter of taste.”
Three recommended playlists
The playlists are intended to start with more energy, becoming calmer to lower the heart rate. They are tailored to broad demographic categories as well as personal listening habits and preferences. These are highlights of three lists produced by the algorithm:
For a 90-year-old white British woman
Teresa Brewer – Music! Music! Music!
Bing Crosby – Galway Bay
Frank Sinatra – Among My Souvenirs
For a 60-year-old woman of British Indian origin
Mere Dil Mein Aaj Kya Hai – Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, Kishore Kumar
Pyaasa – Geeta Dutt & Mohd Rafi
Lag Jaa Gale – Sadhana, Lata Mangeshkar
For a 40-year-old black British man with interest in soul, R&B hip-hop and pop
The Notorious B.I.G. – Mo Money Mo Problems
Ashanti – Foolish
Fugees – Killing Me Softly With His Song”.
It is interesting looking at the playlists above and that a certain type of song can be applied to different age/ethnicity groups! We know that music can help unlock memories for Alzheimer’s patients and provide hugely therapeutic benefits. Although the new trials – for patients and hospital staff – cannot necessarily do too much to aide memory and help in that respect, the fact that agitation and stress levels are reduced is very encouraging. I do playlists all the time and I have never really thought about songs that patients and stressed medical workers would respond positively to. Each person has their own music tastes and leanings, so tailoring playlists and recommending various songs is much more helpful and effective than generic playlists - those designed to ease stress and calm your mood. Whilst medicine and therapy is crucial regarding tackling Alzheimer’s, something as broad and universal as music can provide something powerful and life-changing. The fact patients have recalled happy memories when listening to certain songs makes me wonder whether more studies will be done into the possibility that music – or certain genres/sounds – can assist when it comes to Alzheimer’s and memory. For stressed NHS workers and anyone with anxiety, music can lower the heartbeat and provide something soothing or uplifting. I think that the more we discover from the trials’ results, the more it will impact dementia/Alzheimer’s patients and those with a range of illnesses.
Going back to the article, we learn more about what the technology aims to do and how triggering songs are filtered out:
“The technology aims to build on research showing the effectiveness of using music to manage chronic pain and on managing anxiety and depression in dementia patients.
It tailors its playlist in part by scanning the user’s music preferences based on the listening patterns recorded on their streaming service, if they have one. It also examines their age, gender, nationality, and ethnicity. Jones said a calming track would often have a major key, would be relatively slow and with spaced out instrumentation.
The system is aware that music can be upsetting too. There are “red flag tracks” that are filtered out if the patient fears they may trigger upset by reminding them of a traumatic event. And if Twamley or anyone else, really doesn’t want to hear Mull of Kintyre when they are trying to reduce their blood pressure, they can put their own red flag in it”.
This is all very encouraging! It is wonderful that stressed hospital staff are being considered - through the complexity and severity of dementia means anything that can provide help is important. The more music is utilised and experimented with, the more that playlists and musical therapy can be applied on a bespoke and individual level. Although the NHS trials are still in the early stages, I think that they have the potential to be…
A hugely important breakthrough.