Science Fair project

[Kjs]

Just wondering what your predictions will be.

difficult child decided to do research and project on Blood Pressure. How music affects blood pressure in three different age groups. (he actually saw this online and was intrigued by it)

His prediction is depending on the age group. He predicts that Country, classical and nature will lower the "old" people. (40 - 60).
Also for the <10 group.

His prediction for the 11 - 20 group he thinks that music will have no effect, Heavy metal will relax this age group and bouncy hip hop stuff will higher BiPolar (BP).

He also has the 20 - 40 age group which he feels will be relaxed with the 80's music.

We bought a battery powered blood pressure monitor with pulse rate and shows irragular heart beat. He takes his blood pressure 20 times a day. And mine, and dads. We brought it to the doctor last week when we went to see how accurate it is vs the way the dr. does it. Was about 3 off. His was 86/54 when he went to the doctor.
He was sick, no fever, he was freezing. However my BiPolar (BP) is around 80 - 90 over 60 - 70. Heck...when I go work out it takes forever to get my heart rate up!!

difficult child tried to take the dog's blood pressure but it wouldn't stop pumping up so he took it off. Chloe was mad at him. left the room and would not go near him or even look at him. LOL.

So do you think music will affect BiPolar (BP)? I personally don't think it will. I think he should do the project on how SCHOOL affects BiPolar (BP). Take it before school, between each of the 4 block classes, after school and at Bedtime.
now THAT would be interesting. Don't think he would get a group of volunteers at school though.

 

[Marguerite]

A couple of suggestions - try different kinds of classical music, especially according to tempo and time signature. Fast music vs slow music; march vs waltz. Mozart vs Beethoven.

Also, with the blood pressure cuff - the best way to take a dog's BiPolar (BP) with something like that is around the base of the tail. The problem is, the tail (or the paw) is just too small in circumference. I remember seeing an adapted blood pressure gadget in a friend's laboratory, they used it to take the BiPolar (BP) of rats by doing it around the base of the tail. They made the sphygmomanometer themselves, using the rubber bulb for pumping it up manually, but taking the human-sized cuff out of circuit and using something made from a thin-walled rubber tube (it needs to be a thin wall, also very soft). You choose the diameter tubing according to the size/diameter of the limb being measured.

Maybe he could talk to a local vet about how he takes BiPolar (BP) in various animals - a vet would have to be able to adapt. But blood pressure is really something simple - it's measured in mm of mercury (because mercury being so dense, the apparatus isn't too cumbersome). You can do it using water instead of mercury but you would need a column 30 feet high to do it. Mercury is dangerous to use if you're not careful - spills have to be cleaned up carefully, yet old sphygmomanometers are around everywhere, we used to use them at work all the time.

You might be able to adapt an electronic one to use a cobbled-in miniature cuff like I described; that would be safer than playing with mercury. But you would still need to know what is normal BiPolar (BP) for a dog. Then again, the process of taking the dog's BiPolar (BP) could make her more agitated!

If difficult child tries to make a miniature BiPolar (BP) cuff, he could practice with it on his finger (or yours).

Tell him to think like a scientist. Show him what I've written here, see if it gives him ideas. Get him to read up on how sphygmomanometers work, I think he'll be pleasantly surprised at how simply they are in principle. Not the electronic ones, of course - but they should be adaptable without having to break into the tricker parts of them.

Marg

 

[meowbunny]

I'm on his side -- I think music does calm the savage beast. However, I'm not too sure about his play list. I'd go more trying chamber music than heavy metal. I don't think varying the type of rock will make a real difference -- the beat is still driving and bound to have some effect on raising the pressure.

What might be interesting is to try a week with the music of his choice and then see what happens if he plays classical (not Beethoven's 5th or anything by Wagner) for the same group the following week.

 

[susiestar]

I think it is an interesting project. I look forward to seeing the results for each age group. I was considered a "problem" patient when pregnant because my blood pressure would drop to 70 over 50 (that was a HIGH reading for me while preg) or lower and the docs never could figure out why. Even with Jess's preg, when I was working 60 hour weeks on my feet all day, my BiPolar (BP) never got above that. They never could figure out how to get it to be higher, but were always very worried about it.

I would be interested to see what his blood pressure is during a migraine. After several YEARS of charting my blood pressure, I discovered that if the top number went over 110 I would ahve a migraine. This hold true to this day. It is one reason beta blockers work with me - they lower blood pressure.

With all his headaches, he should take his BiPolar (BP) during each migraine to see what it is. Keep track of it during migraines and when he doesn't have a migraine to see if it is different.

Good luck to difficult child for his project!

 

[TerryJ2]

ROFL!!!! I'm so sorry, I can't focus on the project because I'm laughing about taking the dog's blood pressure ... LOL!

 

[Andy]

Music calms me down. However, when I was traveling with a friend and her tired toddler, I offered to turn on classical, calming music and my friend said it would not work.

I love this experiement and the fact that he is predicting what type of music will help.

 

[Marg's Man]

I think he's in for a surprise.

I remember reading a psychiatric paper on music and its effects. From memory the more Muzak like the music the more calming its effects. The calm would be reflected in a general lowering of heart rate and, hence BiPolar (BP).

DON'T let him play with mercury or anything containing it (assuming you can get your hands on some). It's just too dangerous, even the vapour is toxic, and they keep lowering the 'safe' exposure limits. A major part of my work involves chemical safety and I've been watching mercury's hazard ratings get ramped up, up, up, UP for years now. The most recent list I got from an Australian Safety group has just added mercury to Schedule II (highest/most dangerous is Schedule I). Mercury is just a whisker away from being totally banned.

Marg's Man

 

[Star*]

Send him to Dude's foster parents home - they will tell you what Rap music from Dudes "home made" stereo did to their BiPolar (BP)!!

We dropped him off tonight and had to go (at their insistance) into his room to see the broken windows. OH MY was she not happy - and neither were the neighbors....

And FYI - I'm 44 - and when I want to relax - I listen to Classical OR Ozzy OR Alice in Chains OR Metallica - So I can be a variant.....lol

VERY GOOD CHOICE on projects - No mention of him misbehaving and you wearing that cuff huh? lol