CAT: healing powre of purring cats

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By Lev G. Fedyniak, MD 02/07/2003A CAT'S HEALING PURRWe've always intuitively felt that a cat somehow knows whenwe're not feeling well and even where it hurts. Got a headacheand a cat just seems to wrap around your head. A stomachacheand a cat can't seem to get off your abdomen. And purrs andpurrs and purrs!It was always believed that a cat's purr was relaxing or stressreducing and that that led to any number of healthful benefits.While that may be so, science has shown that the cat's purr ismuch more than just relaxing. Remember that it's not just thesound of purring that's important but more the tremor orvibration it produces.A Cat's Nine LivesInterestingly, science has known for many years that vibrationsat specific levels or frequencies cause healing changes in the body. They can, for example, induce bone growth andregeneration. Bone fractures heal faster and weakened bonesbegin to strengthen and rebuild.Also, in the higher frequency ranges, the production of thebody's own natural anti-inflammatory compounds increasesthereby reducing joint pain and swelling. There is furtherevidence of muscle, tendon and ligament repair within thesefrequency ranges as well, which has led to some popularity insports medicine and gyms around the world, especially in theformer Soviet Union where so much of this research wasconducted.It was also known through various veterinary studies, such asthe one reported in The Journal of the American VeterinaryMedicine Association for example (J Am Vet Med Assoc 99;214(9): 1336-41), that cats rarely suffer bone or joint relateddiseases, including hip dysplasia, arthritis and ligamentproblems. Even bone cancers, such as myeloma orosteosarcoma, are almost unheard of in cats.But it took researcher Elizabeth von Muggenthaler of the FaunaCommunications Research Institute in North Carolina (FCRI), a specialist in the field of bioacoustics, to put it all together.Bioacoustics is the study of the frequency, pitch, loudness, andduration of animal sounds as it relates to the animal's behavior.Based on her research, she proposes that nature has endowed allkinds of felines with an evolutionary healing advantage in thesimple act of purring.Remember that purring takes energy and cats purr not onlywhen all is well, but also when the cat is giving birth, hurt or just scared. There has to be a very good reason for the energyexpenditure to produce purring, especially when the cat isphysically stressed or ill. It would have to be somehow involved in its survival, and Muggenthaler set out to find how.The Science Behind the PurrShe recorded and then measured the purr of forty-four felids(members of the cat family) including cheetahs, ocelots, pumas,domestic cats, and servals. Cats, from your house pet to lionsand tigers in the wild, generally purr in the range of 20 to 140Hertz (Hz). Some are as high as 150 Hz but the averagehousecat comes in at about 25 and 50 Hz.Research has already shown that exposure to frequencies at thatsame 20 and 50 Hz level induces increased bone density. In onestudy, for example, chickens were placed daily on a vibratingplate for 20 minutes, which resulted in stronger bone growth(National Geographic January, 2001 p. 11). Further, in 1994,Dr. Chen and his associates, working with rabbits, determinedthat frequencies of 25 and 50 Hz promoted bone strength by20%, stimulating both the mechanism and speed of fracturehealing (Chen et al, 'The Effects of Frequency of MechanicalVibration on Experimental Fracture Healing'. Chinese Journalof Surgery, 32 (4), 217-219, 1994).There's even a popular saying amongst veterinarians, "If you puta cat and a bunch of broken bones in the same room, the boneswill heal."There is also substantial documentation that low frequencyvibration induces pain relief and healing of tendons andmuscles, and cats purr at those very same frequencies.Remediation of other illnesses due to the cat's purring ability is also being put forward. For example, respiratory problemsassociated with heart disease in cats are almost non-existent. In fact, respiratory problems resolve quickly once purring isactivated. Dr. T. F. Cook in 1973 wrote the article 'The Relief of Dyspnea In Cats By Purring' in the New Zealand VeterinaryJournal (dyspnea is the condition of difficulty in breathing). Itseems a dying cat had such difficulty breathing that the vetswere considering euthanasia. But the cat was found to beginbreathing normally once it began to purr! The purring appearedto open up the cat's air passages.Domestic cats are generally less prone to postoperativecomplications following surgeries. Other healing mechanismsassociated with purring include large skin-tissue grafts that takequickly in cats without necrotizing. The list just continues onand on.In effect then, by changing the frequency of their purring, catsmay be fine-tuning their healing abilities, and it is this uniquehealing advantage that has probably given rise to the notion ofcats having nine lives. They survive conditions that normally killother animals, such as falls from heights. In a study of 132 catfalls with an average fall height of 5 * stories, 90% survived.The record height for a cat falling and surviving is 45 stories!Muggenthaler concludes that such "an internal healingmechanism would be advantageous, increasing recovery timeand keeping muscles and bone strong when sedentary."Vibrational Purr Therapy?The extrapolation of this research may prove vital. Studiescontinue regarding tissue exposure to frequencies between20-50 Hz. For example, Dr. Clinton Rubin in a 1999 studydiscovered that such exposure creates the robust striations of increased bone density, suggesting applications forosteoporosis, particularly in post-menopausal women and the elderly.Ukrainian and Russian researchers discovered the benefits of using vibratory stimulation many decades ago and haveemployed these techniques in sports training and sportsmedicine. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, many of thetreatment devices used by the Soviets have made their way into Western gyms and physical therapy treatment centers.Even the space program has found a benefit from the research.This breakthrough could help astronauts, who generally losebone density in zero gravity, in maintaining healthy bones andresisting the problems of atrophy in outer space.But it's the cat's "healing by association" that most people findinteresting: that ability of a cat to sympathetically help cureillnesses in people simply by being around them. Studies havealso shown that owners, especially senior citizens, who have catshave lower blood pressure and can live longer than humans whodon't own pets.Many individuals swear they can ease or completely eliminatetheir migraine headaches simply by lying down with a purringcat next to their head.Can't hit that minimum recommended daily dose ofbone-enriching calcium? Maybe grabbing the nearest cat andholding it close may just prove to be the answer to brittle-bones.Having surgery? Perhaps after coming home, keeping a catnearby will reduce your recovery time.So, go get a cat. Keep it happy and purring. You're both likelyto be healthier and you'll have a great friend who trulyunderstands how you're feeling.* Lev G. Fedyniak, MD began his medical career in alternativemedicine, studying acupuncture, herbs and other healingtraditions in China, Hong Kong, Canada, Ukraine and otherparts of the world. Recognizing that the allopathic tradition was a necessary compon ent in treating illness, he trained inallopathic medicine to obtain the Doctor of Medicine (MD)degree.Dr. Lev makes his home in Ukraine and continues to study new approaches to treating illness and optimizing health fromtraditions all over the world. He publishes articles and books in the hopes of bringing such information to all who need it.