The Health Blog

“Music heals the soul,” so the old saying says. Recent studies show that the healing power of music is effective to the mind, too.

A new Finnish study found out that music speeds stroke recovery i.e. listening to their favorite music helps stroke patients recover mental function and makes them less depressed and confused.

Music is said to stimulate neural networks. The music group in this research was provided with CD players and CDs of their favorite music in any musical genre and let them listened to it for at least one hour every day for the first two months after their stroke.

Results showed that verbal memory improved significantly higher in the patients (by 60%) who listened to their favorite music than to audio diaries (18%) and non-listeners (29%) after 3 weeks.

However, further studies are needed for validation of this research.

Eliminate risk factors. Know your risk, which one can be changed and which are not.

Risk factors that you can change include some diseases. If you can control the disease, you may lower your risk for stroke. Controllable risk factors include:

• High blood pressure (hypertension). High blood pressure is the second most important stroke risk factor after age.
• Diabetes. Having diabetes doubles your risk for stroke because of the circulation problems associated with the disease. 2
• High cholesterol. High cholesterol can lead to coronary artery disease and heart attack, which can damage the heart muscle and increase your risk for stroke.
• Other heart conditions, such as atrial fibrillation, endocarditis, heart valve conditions, or cardiomyopathy.
• Smoking. Daily cigarette smoking can increase the risk of stroke 2½ times.
• Lack of physical activity.

Some risk factors, however, can’t be changed. Risk factors that you cannot change include:

• Age. The risk for stroke increases with age. Most strokes occur in people older than 65.
• Race. African Americans and Hispanics have a higher risk than people of other races.
• Gender. Stroke is more common in men than women. However, at older ages, more women than men have strokes. At all ages, more women than men die of stroke.
• Family history. The risk for stroke is greater if a parent, brother, or sister has had a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).
  Prior history of stroke or TIA. About 14% of people who have a stroke have another stroke within 1 year.