http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8430698%255E1702,00.html
Singing good for health: scientists
From correspondents in Frankfurt, Germany
January 19, 2004
SINGING strengthens the immune system, research by scientists at the
University of Frankfurt in Germany has found.
The scientists tested the blood of people who sang in a professional
choir in the city, before and after a 60-minute rehearsal of Mozart's
Requiem.
They found that concentrations of immunoglobin A - proteins in the
immune system which function as antibodies - and hydrocortisone, an
anti-stress hormone, increased significantly during the rehearsal.
A week later, when they asked members of the choir to listen to a
recording of the Requiem without singing, they found the composition
of their blood did not change signficantly.
The researchers, who included Hans Guenther Bastian from the Institute
of Musical Education at Frankfurt university, concluded that singing
not only strengthened the immune system but also notably improved the
performer's mood.
The results are published in the latest edition of the US Journal of
Behavioral Medicine.
Agence France-Presse