SUMMARY

Compared to conventional treatment with drugs, Medical Resonance Therapy Music has proven itself to be four times more effective in respect of the reduction of the psycho-physiological manifestations of stress in female patients who undergo gynaecological surgery. Due to its superior effectiveness, Medical Resonance Therapy Music also reduced the length of hospital stay by 20-25%. Furthermore, it also has proven itself eight times as effective as conventional treatment in respect of the improvement in the psychological status and has led to the restoration of normal mental functions in patients who had exhibited a disturbed mental profile.

Key words: Medical Resonance Therapy Music, pre-operative stress, post-operative stress, stress-reducing therapy, cortisol, length of hospital stay, sedatives, hypnotics, psychological status

High stress levels in post-operative patients are associated with a mass of negative health and socio-economic consequences. This applies particularly to the extent of the pre- and post-operative stress in women who undergo gynaecological surgery.

Stress-related problems are commonly treated with numerous medications, including tranquillisers, hypnotics and analgesics. These can, however, have undesired side-effects and, in some cases, lead to long-lasting dependency problems.

It was already recognised a considerable time ago that music can reduce stress and pain and improve the mood. It has now been shown that here the Medical Resonance Therapy Music by the classical composer and musicologist Peter Huebner offers unique advantages – a recognition which is supported by the extensive experience gained in various set-ups for experiments commissioned in the last 5 years including, amongst others, studies in Minsk, Belarus.

The Medical Resonance Therapy Music method is based on natureorientated and holistic principles, first described by the Greek scholar Pythagoras. The effect of these principles has now been enhanced through the application of highly developed technology which makes use of the latest advances in computer technology for musical synthesis.

During the past years, Medical Resonance Therapy Music has been successfully used as the main method of stress-reduction before and after operations for many different disorders and under various clinical conditions.

In order to obtain objective substantiation for the numerous concurring reports about the subjectively experienced beneficial effects of Medical Resonance Therapy Music, scientific studies were ultimately carried out. These studies were also intended to find out ways in which, through a better understanding of the active mechanisms involved in the physiology, one might increase the effectiveness of the method still further.

In the study presented, Medical Resonance Therapy Music was used for women before and after a gynaecological operation, and compared with a control group which received conventional treatment with drugs. The cortisol level was determined on the day of admission, on the day of the operation and 10-12 days after the operation.

A significant degree of superiority of Medical Resonance Therapy Music over the medication could also be observed in the post-operative phase, where the cortisol levels in the control group were lowered by a factor of 1.7, compared with a factor of 2.4 in the Medical Resonance Therapy Music Group.

The female patients were also evaluated in respect of their emotional status, for which purpose the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Index (MMPI) was applied. This showed considerable individual differences, which ranged from normal up to severe psycho-pathological levels. In some cases the level of individual profile peaks was as high as 90 t-points.

In the Medical Resonance Therapy Music Group, the psychological status improved in 88.9% of the patients, compared to a mere 10% improvement in the control group. The psychological status deteriorated in 11.1% of the patients in the Music Therapy group and in 20% of the control group. After cessation of the treatment with Medical Resonance Therapy Music, the MMPI level never went above 50-55 t-points, indicating a normalisation of the psychological status. There were also fewer complications arising in the Music Therapy group, and the length of stay in hospital for this group was shortened by 2-3 days.

In respect of the stress-reducing effects of the Medical Resonance Therapy Music by the classical composer and musicologist Peter Huebner, our experiences in Belarus thus substantiate the reports of other colleagues. This is particularly true in the case of patients undergoing surgery, and here the method offers various medical and socio-economic advantages.

These include an excellent release of stress-related symptoms, an improved psychological status, avoidance of costs, side-effects and long-term damage associated with medicinal therapy, as well as a significantly reduced stay in hospital. We believe that the unusual cost-effectiveness of this new method of therapy opens up significant possibilities, particularly where finances tend to be limited.