Listening to just 30 minutes of rhythmically homogeneous music (such as classical, Celtic or raga music) every day significantly reduces ambulatory high blood pressure, according to research presented at the American Society of Hypertension’s Annual Scientific Meeting and Exposition.

“Listening to music is soothing and has often been associated with controlling patient-reported pain or anxiety and acutely reducing blood pressure,” notes study investigator, Pietro A. Modesti, MD, PhD. “But for the first time, today’s results clearly illustrate the impact daily music listening has on ABP. We are excited about the positive implications for both patients and physicians, who can now confidently explore music listening as a safe, effective, non-pharmacological treatment option or a complement to therapy.”

Prolonged breastfeeding makes kids smarter, according to a new report, which tracked 13,889 youngsters from birth to age 6.5 years.The Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence (WASI) showed statistically significantly higher IQ scores among children who had been exclusively breastfed and with increased length of breastfeeding. In addition, teachers rated the breastfed children academically superior in reading and writing.

Archives of General Psychiatry – May 8, 2008 ;65:578-84.

archpsyc.ama-assn.org

A new study shows a statistically significant link between pounds of industrial release of mercury and increased autism rates. It also shows – for the first time in scientific literature – a statistically significant association between autism risk and distance from the mercury source.

This study found that community autism prevalence is reduced by 1 percent to 2 percent with each 10 miles of distance from the pollution source.

“This study was not designed to understand which individuals in the population are at risk due to mercury exposure,” explains lead author Raymond F. Palmer, PhD. “However, it does suggest generally that there is greater autism risk closer to the polluting source.”

“We suspect low-dose exposures to various environmental toxicants, including mercury, that occur during critical windows of neural development among genetically susceptible children may increase the risk for developmental disorders such as autism,” the authors write.

Health & Place – March, 2008;Epub.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13538292

A prospective case series demonstrates that chiropractic adjustments significantly ease menstrual pain.

The study enrolled 13 women with an average age of 26 years who had suffered from dysmenorrhea for an average of 12 years. Treatment consisted of treating lumbosacral flexion and extension restrictions using drop table. Treatments took place 3 times during each of the 2 consecutive menstrual cycles.

“At baseline, all subjects reported pain severity scores of 5 or higher for at least 2 of 3 anatomical sites: lower or general abdominal pain and/or lower back pain,” according to the study. “Using the 95% confidence interval (CI) as an estimate, clinically meaningful changes (<5) in general abdominal pain and lower back pain were evident for most patients during the treatment phase, whereas for lower abdominal pain, the improvements were subject and cycle dependent.”

“Menstrual pain associated with primary dysmenorrhea may be alleviated with treatment of motion segment restrictions of the lumbosacral spine with drop table technique,” conclude the study’s authors.

JMPT – March 2008;31:237-46.

www.jmpt.com