It may seem counterintuitive, but it appears that teaching a\nperson with chronic obstructive pulmonary\ndisease (COPD) to play the harmonica brings orchestrated benefits. This little\nknown finding, which resulted from a small, little known study, was presented\nduring CHEST 2019, the 85th annual meeting for the American College of Chest\nPhysicians, October 19 through October 23, in New Orleans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary Hart, RRT, MS, FCCP, Baylor Scott & White\nHealth in Dallas, reported the findings and was also an original cohort study\nleader. The study, Hart explained, included 14 persons with COPD, all former smokers, average age 72 years, and\nhad completed pulmonary rehabilitation at least six months prior to joining The Harmaniacs \u2014 as initial study\nparticipants call themselves. After three months of playing the harmonica, for\nabout 30 minutes a day most days of the week, several COPD participants\nexperienced improved pulmonary outcome\nmeasures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study showed that playing the harmonica helped those with\nCOPD gain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The study also pointed to several unexpected and hugely important benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An important and somewhat unexpected benefit of this program,\nHart shared, was the pure enjoyment participants experienced \u2014 with several\nstudy players noting increased quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the biggest surprises in this study came at our 12-week\nevaluation,\u201d Hart said. \u201cWe found that participants\u2019 6-minute walk improved\nsignificantly, increasing by nearly 50 meters. When I showed these results to a\npulmonologist, his response was genuine surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s even more remarkable, Hart added, was that those who continued to play after the official study concluded, continued to show progress. For example, during a 6-month follow up, participants\u2019 6MWT \u2014 from baseline \u2014 had gained an additional 102.57 + 55.48 meters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur goal now is to find funding so we can conduct a much bigger study.\u00a0 We need a control group and enough patients to say that this is something that works \u2014 something that can really make a difference in pulmonary rehab.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While results from the little cohort study are still being\nreviewed, the concept itself already has a second verse. A joint effort between\nthe COPD Foundation and PEP (Pulmonary Empowerment Program) resulted in the\nfirst nationwide harmonica program created for individuals with COPD and other\nchronic lung diseases.1<\/sup> There is a fee connected to various\npackages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One more noteworthy comment; Chris Janson is not only an American country music singer and songwriter, he\u2019s also diagnosed with asthma. Janson says, \u201cAs an asthmatic, harmonica playing has helped me overcome my breathing problems and make some damn good music.\u201d1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Resource<\/p>\n\n\n\n