In their quest for natural ways of preventing cardiovascular diseases, scientists have discovered music may soon become part of their tool kit.

Italian researchers believe music can normalize blood pressure by causing blood flow and respiratory rates to synchronize with it. Their study from 2006 found that faster music resulted in increased breathing, heart rate and blood pressure, but when it was stopped those physiological functions decreased, sometimes below the initial rate.

By contrast, slower music caused a decline in heart rate.

Their most recent research analyzed 24 adults aged between 24-26 years, including 12 experienced singers and 12 individuals with no musical training. Participants were fitted with headphones, and their blood pressure, cerebral artery flow, respiration and narrowing of blood vessels in the skin were monitored.

The results suggest that swelling crescendos (volume increase) appear to cause moderate arousal while decrescendos (volume decrease) bring about relaxation.

“Music induces a continuous, dynamic – and to some extent predictable – change in the cardiovascular system,” says Dr. Luciano Bernardi, lead researcher and professor of internal medicine at Pavia University in Italy.

“It is not only the emotion that creates the cardiovascular changes, but also the opposite might be possible – that cardiovascular changes may be the substrate for emotions,” he adds.

Blood pressure may also be lowered with nutritional supplements containing hawthorn, fish oil or folic acid.