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Study Links Drumming With Fight Against Cancer |
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Barry Bittman, M.D., and a team of researchers at the Mind-Body Wellness Center in Meadville, PA have established that a specific type of group drum playing, known as composite drumming, correlates with an increase in Natural Killer (NK) cell activity, one of the mechanisms through which the body combats cancer and viral illnesses. The study was published in the January 2001 issue of the journal Alternative Therapies. In addition, the findings have received considerable attention in the mainstream media, with appearances in the Washington Post, Hartford Courant, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and numerous television and radio interviews. By testing different patterns of drumming activity on test subjects who did not suffer from any illness or abnormal lifestyle stress, Bittman and his team were able to measure chemical changes in the subjects' bloodstreams. The results point toward an important course of future study on cancer patients and other specific populations, with possible implications for proven therapies down the road. "This is the first major controlled scientific investigation of the effect of this specific music-making protocol on activities of specific immune system cells that seek out and destroy cancer cells and virally-infected cells," Bittman says. "The beauty of drumming as opposed to other activities is that you can take it anywhere, teach it in only a few minutes and offer it to groups of ill and well people alike." |
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