Patients who put on a virtual reality headset showing a calm forest scene and listened to classical music while receiving standard treatment saw a larger early fall in blood pressure than those who received medication alone. The findings come from a study led by Safa Dönmez and colleagues at the University of Health Sciences in Ankara, Turkey, and were presented at the European Emergency Medicine Congress in Paris.
The researchers enrolled 130 adults who arrived at an emergency department with hypertensive urgency, a condition in which blood pressure rises sharply and needs prompt control. All of them received the usual blood-pressure medication. Half also used the headset, which displayed a river running through a forest in Canada, along with a playlist of classical music.
Starting readings in the group ranged roughly from 130 to 138 mmHg. After 15 minutes, the medication-only group had dropped by about 12 mmHg, while the group using the virtual scene and music had fallen by about 16 mmHg. Patients in the headset group also reported lower anxiety. By the 60-minute mark, however, blood pressure readings were roughly equal between the two groups, meaning the early advantage had faded.
The study leaves several questions open. It is not clear whether the music, the virtual scenery, or the combination of the two drove the effect, and the long-term impact on patients is unknown. The team plans larger and longer trials, and has yet to test whether letting patients choose their own music makes a difference.
We rewrote this story on 4 November 2026 after an editorial review.
Credit. Based on reporting by Chris Simms for New Scientist. Is this your work? Write to us.
120
