Slashdot Mirror
Hearts Actually Can Break
DesScorp writes "It seems that there's a grain of truth to one old wives' tale; it turns out that you really can die of a broken heart, especially if you're a post-menopausal woman. The Wall Street Journal reports on a phenomena called 'broken-heart syndrome,' which often occurs after great emotional distress. Quoting: 'In a conventional heart attack, an obstructed artery starves the heart muscle of oxygenated blood, quickly resulting in the death of tissue and potentially permanently compromising heart function. In contrast, the heart muscle in broken-heart-syndrome patients is stunned in the adrenaline surge and appears to go into hibernation. Little tissue is lost.' In the article a doctor notes, 'The cells are alive, but mechanically or electrically disabled.' Documented cases track heart attacks in people with seemingly healthy hearts after the grief of the death of a loved one. Intense feelings can cause the heart actually to change shape. Doctors call this 'tako-tsubo,' after the Japanese phrase for 'octopus trap,' so called because the syndrome was first identified by a Japanese doctor who noticed the strange shape in the left ventricle. Doctors note that while strong emotions like grief are usually associated with the syndrome, stress or a migraine can also trigger such heart attacks."
Perhaps you shouldn't make it 28? Life is too short to deal with someone who is terrible to you. It is a hard road to go down, but my life would have been hell without it and now I'm happier than I ever thought I could have been. Broken hearts heal.
My grandmother was diagnosed with cancer around 1980 or so. They gave her 6 months to live, but she soldiered on for 5 years, with an indomitable attitude and relentless good cheer and a wicked sense of humor. Eventually, she made it her dream to get her and my grandfather and their two sons and their families together for a big beach trip to Florida. We had that beach trip in the summer of 1985 and it was a wonderful vacation we all cherish in our memories. She finally passed away a couple months later.
While not a "broken heart" situation, I always believed that her will to see this plan through gave her much strength, and once it was over, she could accept the inevitable. Our minds can't completely control our bodies, but I'm convinced they do much more than we tend to believe. Either that or someone needs to patent "placebo" because it's potent stuff.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Not particularly. Apoptosis is available on the cellular level, and while this isn't an analogous situation there is a certain similarity. Sometimes it's a cell that made a serious DNA replication error, or sometimes it's a man or woman so overcome with grief that his or her heart fails. In both cases, continued survival (of the cell or heart) is perceived as "not worth it" by some underlying process.
I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.
you need some sort of commitment to be happy
That is not true. There are plenty of unmarried people out there. If they weren't happy they are free to marry. They don't. Therefore they are happy.
that commitment leaves you vulnerable
Very true.