The Beat Goes On

Posted on September 24, 2004 in Health Poetry

I noticed something while my leg was chained to the bed at Mission Hospital last week. When I took out my notebook and wrote, my blood pressure went down. Fifteen points. It was at 134 over 88 when my doctor checked in. After he left, I jotted down some thoughts. The blood pressure cuff soughed and thickened. It dropped to 119 over 80.

The latest Scientific American (October 2004, pp. 30-32) thinks there might be a connection, too:

Reciting the Illiad could have epic effects on your health. German physiologists have recently shown that such poetry can get your heart beating in time with your breaths. This synchronization may improve gas exchange as well as the body’s sensitivity and responsiveness to blood pressure changes.

The researchers chose German translations of Homer written in hexameter:

[Dirk] Cysatz says that one of his collaborators, speech therapist Petric Von Bonin, had extensive experience with this poetry form and felt it would yield the most promising results. Cysarz also cites historical accounts of Greek choruses and audiences gathering to recite more than 10,000 lines of hexameter without pausing. The verse must have produced feel-good effects, Cysarz surmises, “otherwise no one would want to listen to this poetry.”

They haven’t checked the connection with hypertension yet, but it’s the next step. I’m off to a poetry reading tonight. It should be good for my heart.