Poetry.Reciting poems could be heart-healthy. Physiologist physiologist /phys·i·ol·o·gist/ (fiz?e-ol´ah-jist) a specialist in physiology. (scientist who studies the body's vital functions) Dirk Cysarz from Germany's University of Witten Witten (vĭt`ən), city (1994 pop. 105,807), North Rhine–Westphalia, W Germany, on the Ruhr River. It is an industrial city whose manufactures include chemicals, iron and steel, glass, and machinery. Witten was first mentioned in the 13th cent. and was chartered in 1825. monitored people's breathing as they recited Homer's rhythmic poem Iliad (language, real-time) ILIAD - A real-time language. ["On the Design of a Language for Programming Real-Time Concurrent Processes", H.A. Schutz, IEEE Trans Soft Eng SE-5(3):248-255, May 1979].. The readers' breathing slowed from 15 to 6 breaths a minute. The slowdown could lower blood pressure, or blood's push on vessel walls. Unhurried breathing relaxes blood vessels, easing oxygen-rich blood's course from the heart to tissues. So bellowing verses could have epic benefits. Did You Know? * One in four adult Americans has high blood pressure high blood pressure (h  )n. Abbr. HBP . While the disease is most commonly found in adults over the age of 35, children as young as 6 have been diagnosed with high blood pressure. Hypertension. * Homer's Iliad comprises about 16,000 lines of verse. This epic poem narrates the final year of the Trojan War Trojan War, in Greek mythology, war between the Greeks and the people of Troy. The strife began after the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. When Menelaus demanded her return, the Trojans refused. Menelaus then persuaded his brother Agamemnon to lead an army against Troy. At Aulis, troopships gathered, led by the greatest Greek heroes—Achilles, Patroclus, Diomed, Odysseus, Nestor, and the two warriors named Ajax.. Resources * To learn more about the poetry study, read this press release from the American Physiological Society: www.the-aps.org/press/journal/04/18.htm * Visit the American Heart Association to learn more about blood pressure: www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=2114 * For a short, illustrated version of the Odyssey, check out: www.mythweb.com/odyssey/ |
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