Daily music listening to reduce work-related stress: a randomized controlled pilot trial.

BACKGROUND: Literature shows that music can reduce stress conditions. This pilot study investigated the effects of music listening on work-related stress and well-being in healthcare professionals. METHOD: A total of 45 subjects were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: No Music, Individualized Music and Melomics-Health Listening. Music groups experienced a daily 30-min-playlist listening for 3 weeks at home. The Maugeri Stress Index-Revised (MASI-R) and the Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI) were administered at baseline, after 3 weeks and after 7 weeks (follow-up). Longitudinal data were analyzed by means of a nested ANOVA model, testing the main effects of time and treatment and the interaction between them. RESULTS: MASI-R scores showed a positive trend in music groups and a worsening in the control group. Only the interaction time/treatment emerged as supporting a trend toward statistical significance (P = 0.07). PGWBI showed a stability in music groups and a clear decline in controls, without significant effects. CONCLUSIONS: Results from the study support the need for a larger clinical trial: it is suggested that daily music listening could be implemented to reduce work-related stress and that the effects may be related, not only to individual musical preferences and familiarity, but also to specific music structures and parameters.

Effect of dietary coconut oil on lipoprotein composition of young chick (Gallus domesticus).

1. The composition of HDL, the major lipoprotein fraction from chick serum, drastically changed after 2 weeks of coconut oil feeding. Total cholesterol and triacylglycerols significantly increased following dietary 10 or 20% coconut oil supplementation. 2. Changes in LDL composition were less profound, cholesterol being the only component that increased by coconut oil supplementation (10 or 20%). 3. IDL proteins were the only components that increased following the same dietary treatment (20%). 4. VLDL cholesterol and proteins also increased after 1-2 weeks of 20% coconut oil supplementation to the diet. 5. Of total lipoproteins, the cholesterol content strongly increased after dietary treatment, while triacylglycerols did not change significantly.

Induction in Gallus domesticus of experimental hypercholesterolemia by saturated fat. Effects on cholesterogenic enzyme activity.

The effect of coconut oil supplementation to the diet (10 or 20%) on lipid levels in plasma and liver as well as on the cholesterogenic enzyme activity were studied in 14-day-old chicks. Treatments for 1 or 2 weeks did not interfere in the growth rate of animals nor in the liver weight. The 10% coconut oil group showed a significant increase of plasma cholesterol after 2 weeks of treatment, while after 1 week the increase was not statistically significant. The 20% coconut oil group increased plasma cholesterol from the first week. Triacylglycerol content increased after each coconut oil supplementation to the diet during the first week. Hepatic cholesterol did not change significantly after any treatment assayed. No significant difference was observed in the cholesterogenic activity, measured as hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase, so that this study provides a perfect model of hypercholesterolemic animals without changes in their cholesterogenic ability.