THE ESSENTIAL
- Researchers have created a choir to help children with heart defects.
- The use of singing aims to improve children’s breathing and their well-being.
- The official results are not yet known but researchers have already noted an improvement in children’s confidence and self-esteem.
What if singing could help children with serious heart defects? This is the idea of the program launched by Lurie Children’s Hospitalin Chicago, in the United States, and the Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. For two months, fourteen children with serious heart defects met once a week to learn singing and breathing techniques. At the end of the program, they even went on stage in front of their parents and other spectators.
Single ventricle: young people who participated in singing lessons had cardiac and spirometry tests
The children, aged 8 to 16, had a serious heart defect called single ventriclemeaning they only had one functioning heart ventricle. Normally, this pumps blood to the lungs. During their childhood, they had all undergone several open heart surgeries as well as the Fontan operation. As indicated in the Cleveland Clinicthis act aims to improve blood circulation. Indeed, this surgical procedure allows oxygen-poor blood from the lower part of the body to go directly to the pulmonary artery (then to the lungs) to receive oxygen, without passing through the heart. “Although these operations save the lives of children, patients may need a heart transplant as adults, according to a communiqué. As children, they often face limitations such as shortness of breath, reduced endurance and other potential complications”.
The researchers tested a simple technique, which has already proven itself in adults suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma: singing! Before rehearsals, music teachers performed clinical cardiac and spirometry tests – to measure lung function – and asked participants to complete wellness questionnaires. At the end of the eight weeks, they repeated these tests. Researchers are currently analyzing this data.
Improved confidence and esteem among children in the choir
The goal is to find out if the program improved blood circulation and lung function. For the moment, the official results are not yet known. But researchers are already seeing rapid benefits. “Although it is difficult to quantify improvements in heart health, we have already seen incredible benefits in other areas, says Dr. Andy Pelech, a pediatric cardiologist at Lurie Children’s Hospital, in an article for Northwestern. During the first rehearsals, the children were introverted. Now they are talking to each other and showing noticeable increases in self-esteem and self-confidence (…) It’s better to sing than take a pill every day. If we can demonstrate long-term improvements in lung function, this could become a mainstay of therapy. It’s the dream”.
Health
