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A GP has asked his fellow doctors to prescribe singing as an alternative to medicine.
Dr. Simon Opher said he saw fewer patients joining a singing group or choir because singing has many health and social benefits.
Music therapy has already been used successfully in care homes for people with dementia and singing can also help people with Parkinson's disease.
The Gloucestershire-based generalist said, "People see me less if they start singing.
"As a doctor, I can be a bit dangerous because I can do tests that are not necessary, maybe tablets and inhalers that are not needed.
"I really support the fact that they engage in something and really appreciate it and do not come to see me as much.
"There is fairly solid data supporting this. They tend to use fewer health resources in general.
"In terms of funding, it's something that the NHS really supports now."
Dr. Opher continued, "As a physician, I think you really need to convince the medical profession of the benefit and it may take a while.
"But if doctors are listening, it's really important that you start thinking about these types of remedies because it improves the patient in many general ways, as well as in these specific modes of breathing and dementia.
"It's not a panacea, but it can really help your doctor's job.
"We have to rely on what exists in the community and every community I meet only has people singing.
"Find these people and start using them, rather than creating something new for yourself."
Dr. Opher spoke at an event at the Cheltenham Science Festival, in which it was questioned whether singing could improve health.
"In dementia, there is evidence that when we sing, there is a region of our brain that receives more blood and these are the ones that are usually preserved in dementia," he said.
"When you hear a song, it's sometimes bizarre for you, and it's something very loud and visceral.
"This feeling is really important and really wakes up dementia patients and makes them feel more involved."
He also said research has shown that singing can help people with Parkinson's disease because it improves the sound of their voice, which can weaken it.
"There are a lot of adaptations and maybe we are just touching the surface to get into other areas of the disease with which we can help people."
Dr. Daisy Fancourt, a senior researcher at UCL, said that a link between arts and health could be established over millennia and that it was proven that singing helped to improve the heart rate, blood pressure, mood and depression.
"But over the past two decades, we have begun to have real scientific evidence about why singing can have health benefits," she said.
"I like to think of singing as a multi-model health activity because it has many components that we already know are good for health.
"Singing involves emotional expression and regulation, which, we know, is good for mental health.
"Singing can also help us get out of the house, reducing sedentary behaviors that can affect physical health.
"It can also provide social interaction to reduce feelings of isolation.
"We are really starting to understand a lot more about the psychological, biological and behavioral mechanisms that link these aspects of singing to health.
"What's good here is that even though many health interventions are not particularly fun, singing is not a medical activity, it's fun and fun.
"So there is an intrinsic motivation to sing and thus to gain these health benefits."
Dr. Fancourt said that participation in music concerts also had a positive effect on health.
"There was almost the same biological reduction of stress from clbadical music concerts as rock concerts, which may seem odd, but emphasizes that participating in concerts is often a relaxing activity, regardless of the genre. "she added.
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