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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000066.txt from 2005/12

From: herb fawcett <herbgosia@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] asthma and wind playing -- oboe best?
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 18:46:40 -0500

I only know of one person who turned to an instrument to alleviate the
problems of asthma; my first wife. Her physician recommended that she either
take up singing or the flute, as neither involved back pressure. She was
just starting high school and was a very fine pianist at the time. She
committed to the idea and became a terrific flutist and went to Curtis to
study with Kincaid upon graduation. I remember in our 16 years together that
she had one attack in response to dust at a barn dance. It put her in the
hospital, but there were no other problems before or after. Sadly, she has
succumbed to carpal tunnel and several arthritic problems now, and cannot
play either instrument. She did a lot of typing (110wpm!) when she wasn't
playing in and around San Francisco ( SF Opera, Oakland Symphony etc) and
that, too, may have contributed to her joints breaking down. She still (age
65+) has no problem with asthma.
FWIW,
Herb

On 12/29/05 8:41 AM, "Miriam Williams" <mwquacker@-----.net> wrote:

> I've often wondered if people with breathing problems such as asthma would
> have better success on the oboe instead of say, clarinet or flute, since the
> volume of air is not as important as the continuous pressure to support the
> tone.
>
> Dr. Dawson?
>
> Here's an article from another list reeders may find interesting.
>
> Miriam
> ``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
> ````````````````````````````````````````````
> (snippet)
> "Asthma," says Dr. Joanne Loewy -- who radiates her enthusiasm for the
> palpable results of her work -- "is the No. 1 admitting diagnosis for
> children in hospitals. So we are currently studying the effects of wind
> playing -- such as playing a flute or a horn -- in lung volume capacity and
> quality of life in children and teenagers."
> `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
> MUSIC
> The Healing Power of Jazz
> By NAT HENTOFF
> December 29, 2005; Page D8
>
> In 1969, Louis Armstrong told his longtime friend and associate, Phoebe
> Jacobs, the grande dame of the New York jazz scene, that he wanted to start
> a foundation "to give back to people some of the goodness I've had from them
> all these years." Thus began the Louis Armstrong Educational Fund, of which,
> Ms. Jacobs is vice president.
>
> Among its projects, including the Louis Armstrong Public School Jazz
> Outreach Program in New Orleans, the nonprofit foundation has added to his
> huge role in the shaping of jazz history a significant contribution to the
> history of medical music therapy in hospitals and other care centers.
>
> Several times, Armstrong had been a patient at Beth Israel Hospital in New
> York, where he became very impressed with the medical staff, and decided to
> provide funds that would be devoted to music therapy for children -- a field
> in which he'd had some experience, have years before, for instance, provided
> recordings of a wide range of music to help create a more relaxed ambience
> as children were being born in a New Orleans hospital.
>
> For more than 10 years, at Beth Israel, the Louis and Lucille Armstrong
> Music Therapy Program -- under the direction of Dr. Joanne Loewy,
> internationally known for this work -- has supported research and clinical
> music therapy for infants, children and families at the hospital, and for
> outpatients, and patients with HIV.
>
> The program has been enlarged to include the hospital's nationally
> recognized Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care, its intensive
> care units and the neonatal intensive care unit -- an addition that would
> have greatly pleased the large-hearted funder of these advances in the
> healing power of music.
>
> Last month there was a ribbon-cutting at Beth Israel to further expand the
> founding program by Armstrong and his wife by adding the new Louis Armstrong
> Center for Music and Medicine. Its focus will be on medical treatment for
> children and adults with asthma and chronic pulmonary disease (COPD).
>
> "Asthma," says Dr. Joanne Loewy -- who radiates her enthusiasm for the
> palpable results of her work -- "is the No. 1 admitting diagnosis for
> children in hospitals. So we are currently studying the effects of wind
> playing -- such as playing a flute or a horn -- in lung volume capacity and
> quality of life in children and teenagers."
>
> On the morning of the ribbon-cutting -- before the speeches and a tribute to
> hospital trustee Richard Netter, whose $1.25 million gift helped make
> possible the full Music and Medicine Center -- all conversation stopped as a
> joyous thunderclap of jazz resounded from a balcony near the ceiling.
>
> There, standing alone, Jon Faddis, a trumpet player of prodigious lyrical
> force, was playing "West End Blues," a Louis Armstrong recorded solo in the
> 1920s that electrified the burgeoning jazz community then, and ever since.
>
> The program guide had accurately described Mr. Faddis as a "herald" of this
> life-enhancing event. And there, next to him, in a wheelchair, was the other
> "herald" of the morning, the ceaselessly inventive octogenarian Clark Terry,
> who played another song long associated with Louis Armstrong, "What a
> Wonderful World."
>
> Sitting below, I was lifted by the two glowing trumpeters into a memory of
> Louis Armstrong's exuberant pleasure in giving pleasure to his listeners,
> including other musicians. Mr. Terry once recalled that when he and Dizzy
> Gillespie (a mentor of Mr. Faddis) were living in Corona, Queens, they'd
> walk over to Louis Armstrong's home. Welcoming them, Armstrong would say,
> "Sit down, I'm gonna give you the history of jazz." On this morning, they
> were witnessing to Louis's legacy of expanding the history of jazz to
> illuminate its healing powers.
>
> Ms. Jacobs, in her remarks when we came down to earth, said: "You might
> think Louis Armstrong is dead. He's not. His spirit keeps on infecting us
> all."
>
> Then, looking around the room, Ms. Jacobs paused and said to the doctors and
> to the past and potential patients present: "Music is more important now
> that we have all these troubles in the world, and here in this country. You
> don't have to be in a hospital to benefit from music therapy."
>
> Later, I told Ms. Jacobs what Merle Haggard, whose roots are in jazz as well
> as country, had said to me: "When I get really way down, and nothing lifts
> me up, only music can."
>
> Dr. Loewy and her staff at Beth Israel, sharing their research with medical
> centers in this and other countries, are lifting up many bodies and spirits.
>
> In an article in the March Medical Herald about her work at Beth Israel, she
> says, for one example: "Rhythm is the first area that helps us understand
> the logic of medical music therapy, because the heartbeat is the first thing
> that a doctor looks at to assess the physical parameters of the body. If we
> can look into the rhythm and look at the effect of rhythm in terms of
> healing, that kind of work is very important, especially in diseases such as
> Parkinson's where you're looking to improve gait control...
>
> "Once I begin to use music," she continues, "people see results...Parents
> see their children start to sing when they can't talk. The same thing with
> stroke. We know that music combines right brain and left brain. So, we just
> see the results of music therapy" there too.
>
> Currently being planned at Beth Israel is a Music Therapy Wellness Center
> for Musicians. A summary sent to me by Dr. Loewy explains that the center
> would care for "musicians who suffer, from other things, depression, anxiety
> and overuse syndrome. An interesting phenomenon among musicians is that
> women musicians are at significantly greater risk for playing-related
> injury, as are players of string instruments. Typically, people don't think
> musicians are injured and this is clearly an under-recognized health
> problem."
>
> Wind and brass players, Dr. Loewy notes, have problems affecting facial
> muscles, hands, wrists and arms. "The role of the Wellness Center would be
> to implement musical visualization techniques and provide intervallic
> synthesis breathing and physical exercises to implement breathing, thus
> preventing such injuries."
>
> "Of all people," she emphasizes, "the power of music to bring people
> together was enhanced by Louis Armstrong. We would like to hallow the
> Armstrong name in a tangible, living way."
>
> There are many more choruses to come as the rhythms of Louis Armstrong keep
> reverberating.
>
> Mr. Hentoff writes about jazz for the Journal.
>
> URL for this article:
> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113581415818933409.html
>
> Copyright 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved This copy is
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>
>
>
>
>
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