WNKY News 40 Health Report: Using Music to Treat Cancer

GLASGOW, Ky. – When you think of cancer care, you probably think of IVs and chemotherapy. But, there’s another part to the care…music. Music therapy to be exact.

Music therapy has existed since before the 1940s, when music therapy teaching programs were established.

Emily McDuffee, a board-certified music therapist at T.J. Regional Health, says music therapy helps patients control pain, anxiety and depression, all of which can be associated with cancer. She says music can help with the release of endorphins, the feel-good hormone secreted by the brain.

It has proven outcomes, too. McDuffee says patients have rated their pain levels lower during or after music therapy sessions than before the session started. And Melanie Isbell, a nurse practitioner at T.J. Regional Health, says she has seen patients’ heart rates decrease during music therapy sessions.

As for the genre of music, a lot of the music tends to be religious hymns or classical music; however, patients have chosen songs from rap or R&B.