Music calms nerves before surgery as well as sedatives

Listening to the "world's most relaxing song" before an operation is as good at calming patients' nerves as medication, University of Pennsylvania researchers wrote in BMJ journal. The song 'Weightless' by UK band Marconi Union for three minutes (below), written to reduce anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate, performed as well as a sedative in a study of 157 people. The patients in the trial were either given the drug midazolam or played the song while having an anaesthetic to numb a region of the body. Patient anxiety reduced by the same amount in both groups. The University of Pennsylvania researchers now want to look at whether the type of music and how it is played to patients makes a difference to the results. Independent...