Friday, October 17, 2008

Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah,...

Disco may be dead, but it just might save your life. Don't believe me? Just ask a doctor.

A study conducted at the University of Illinois College of Medicine experimented with ways to teach people the proper 100 compressions per minute for performing CPR. Their conclusion? Listening to "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees helped 15 doctors keep the proper rhythm.

The song contains 103 beats per minute, which very closely mirrors the required rate. After five weeks practicing CPR while listening to the song, participants performed better at keeping the proper pace.

They also remarked on the irony and fittingness of the song.

"The theme 'Stayin' Alive' is very appropriate for the situation," said Dr. David Matlock who headed the small study. "Everybody's heard it at some point in their life. People know the song and can keep it in their head."

So the next time you hear "...somebody help me; somebody help me, yeah", just think back to that song that won't get out of your head...

And yes. You might just say the DJ saved your life.

1 comment:

KLCtheBookWorm said...

What I found really hysterical was the last doctor CNN interviewed for their article on this story. He also found that "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen works too, but "wasn't as appropriate."