CLEVELAND, July 10 (UPI) -- As scientists continue to study the benefits of music, the day may come when doctors prescribe two Mozart sonatas instead of two aspirin.
Decades of studies, including one published recently, suggest music might be a moderately effective pain reliever, USA Today reports.
The newest study, published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, involved 60 patients who reported significantly less pain and depression and an increased sense of control after listening to music for an hour a day.
One theory is music might induce hormonal or immune system changes that reduce pain while another is that music is simply a pleasant but powerful form of distraction, the paper said.
"It obviously has something to do with mid-body interaction," says Sandra Siedlecki, a nursing researcher at the Cleveland Clinic who co-wrote the study along with Marion Good of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
In addition to its analgesic properties, music is being investigated to help premature infants, children with cerebral palsy, trauma sufferers and the autistic.
