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From:  Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
Margaret Harrison <peggyh@i...>
Date:  Wed Apr 4, 2001  1:44 am
Subject:  Choral Singing Can Keep You Healthy


Dear Vocalisters:

A friend of mine passed this one on to me. As she said,
it's nice to know that something I enjoy so much is good for
me!

>From the Boston Globe 3/31/01
>
>Joy of singing in a choir could be preventive medicine, researchers say
>
>By Marla Jo Fisher Knight Ridder , 3/31/2001
>
>IRVINE, Calif. - Singing in a choir might just make you healthier,
>according to a newly publicized study by the University of California,
>Irvine.
>
>Researchers found increased levels of disease-fighting proteins in the
>mouths of choir members after they sang Beethoven's choral masterwork,
>''Missa Solemnis.''
>
>According to the study, a protein used by the immune system to fight
>disease called Immunoglobulin A increased 150 percent during rehearsals
>and 240 percent during performance. The boost seemed directly related to
>the singers' states of mind, which many participants described as happy or
>euphoric.
>
>''The more passionate you feel while singing, the greater the effect,''
>said education professor Robert Beck, who authored the study
>with Thomas Cesario, dean of the university's College of Medicine.
>The study was published this school year in the scientific journal
>Music Perception.
>
>The difference in the increased levels between a performance and
>rehearsal, scientists theorized, might be because the singers had achieved
>mastery of the complicated piece after often-stressful
>rehearsals and also were enjoying the thrill of the performance itself.
>
>That makes perfect sense to baritone Steve Morris, a member of the Santa
>Ana, Calif.-based Pacific Chorale who participated in the study and has a
>deeply emotional reaction to performing.
>
>'Afterward, I'm floating,'' said Morris, 61, a member of choir with his
>wife, Ann, since 1969. ''I feel terrific. There have been many times going
>into a concert when I'm fighting a cold or have a sore throat,
>but I managed to show up and do the performance, and I'm higher than a
>kite when it's over.''
>
>Researchers attended two rehearsals and a performance of the 160-member
>Pacific Chorale over an eight-week period, as the choir prepared for and
>sang Beethoven's complex masterwork of sacred music.
>
>They used cotton swabs to collect saliva, which contains the immune
>protein, from some 32 volunteer choir members, before and after singing,
>and analyzed the results.
>
>This story ran on page 5 of the Boston Globe on 3/31/2001.
>© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.


--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...


  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
10826 Re: Choral Singing Can Keep You Healthy Greypins@a...   Wed  4/4/2001   2 KB
10827 Re: Choral Singing Can Keep You Healthy John Link   Wed  4/4/2001   2 KB
10829 Re: Choral Singing Can Keep You Healthy M.J. Ruhl   Wed  4/4/2001   2 KB
10828 Re: Choral Singing Can Keep You Healthy Greypins@a...   Wed  4/4/2001   2 KB
10831 Re: Choral Singing Can Keep You Healthy John Link   Wed  4/4/2001   2 KB
10832 Re: Choral Singing Can Keep You Healthy Greypins@a...   Wed  4/4/2001   3 KB
10837 Re: Choral Singing Can Keep You Healthy John Link   Wed  4/4/2001   5 KB
10840 Re: Choral Singing Can Keep You Healthy Greypins@a...   Wed  4/4/2001   3 KB
10841 Re: Choral Singing Can Keep You Healthy Greypins@a...   Wed  4/4/2001   2 KB

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