Listening to Mozart’s piano concertos for eight minutes a day can reduce the frequency of seizures in young epilepsy patients by 30 percent, a study carried out by Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU) showed.
The study, conducted in collaboration with researchers at National Sun Yat-sen University’s department of music, examined the effects of Mozart’s music on children 17 years old and under who suffer from epilepsy.
Lin Lung-chang (林龍昌), a child neurologist at KMU Hospital and a member of the research team, said brain wave tests on 58 epilepsy patients in the designated age group showed that the frequency of abnormally excited electrical signals in the brain dropped an average of 30 percent in 47 cases after listening to eight minutes of Mozart’s piano concerto K448.
In a second-phase test over a longer period, it was found that the longer the program of music therapy lasted, the better its healing effects on the patients.
“Six months would be the best time span for music therapy,” Lin said.
In a third-phase test, 18 patients with a high frequency of seizures or convulsions were found to have experienced a whopping 53 percent reduction in frequency after a long period of music therapy, Lin said.
Yang Jui-cheng (楊瑞成), another team member and child neurology expert at KMU Hospital, said the study found that in addition to “markedly improving” epilepsy in children, music can also help to reduce the dosage of medication patients require and its side effects.
He said that foreign studies have demonstrated that music can help cure Parkinson’s disease, dementia, strokes, sleeping disorders and attention deficient disorder, and has a good record of improving patients’ quality of life.
In 1993, a medical journal reported that college students who took an IQ test after listening to Mozart’s piano concerto K448 scored eight or nine points higher than usual, Lin said.
The research conducted by Lin’s team will be published in Epilepsy Research, a well-known medical journal.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to