Effects of music therapy on pain, discomfort, and depression for patients with leg fractures.

PURPOSE: To determine the effects of music therapy on pain, discomfort, and depression for patients with leg fractures. METHODS: Data were collected from 40 patients admitted in an orthopedic surgery care unit. The subjects included 20 intervention group members and 20 control group members. Music therapy was offered to intervention group members once a day for 3 days for 30-60 minutes per day. Pain was measured with a numeric rating scale and by measuring vital signs. Discomfort and depression were measured with self-administered questionnaires. RESULTS: Patients who received music therapy had a lower degree of pain than patients who did not receive music therapy as measured by the numeric pain score (p<0.001), systolic blood pressure (p<0.01), diastolic blood pressure (p<0.001), pulse rate (p<0.001) and respiration (p<0.001). Patients who were provided with music therapy also had a lower degree of discomfort than patients who were not provided with this therapy (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that music therapy is an effective method for decreasing pain and dis-comfort for patients with leg fractures.

Induction of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase gene expression by paraquat and stress-related hormones in Rehmannia glutinosa.

Rehmannia glutinosa is a medicinal herb that is tolerant to the non-selective herbicide paraquat. Acteoside, a phenolic compound present in the plant, has been shown to inhibit paraquat. To understand regulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway that produces the acteoside moiety, we isolated a phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) cDNA clone (RgPAL1) and used it to examine PAL expression. The deduced 712 amino acid sequence of the open reading frame contains the conserved active site and potential phosphorylation sites of other plant PALs. RgPAL1 mRNA was detected in the leaves, flowers and roots of healthy plants, and the level of the mRNA was higher in leaves than in flowers and roots. RgPAL1 mRNA was induced in leaves by paraquat, H2O2, UV light, wounding, yeast extract, jasmonic acid and ethephon. The transcript level and enzyme activity increased gradually from 6 to 24 h after exposure to paraquat or jasmonic acid. Induction of RgPAL1 by paraquat and stress-related phytohormones suggests that it is involved in the regulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway under oxidative stress.