人真的可以被“嚇”死么
來(lái)源：
小編： 174Can a person be scared to death?
人能被嚇?biāo)烂矗?
A Charlotte, N.C。， man was charged with first-degree murder of a 79-year-old woman whom police said he scared to death. In an attempt to elude cops after a botched bank robbery, the Associated Press reports that 20-year-old Larry Whitfield broke into and hid out in the home of Mary Parnell. Police say he didn't touch Parnell but that she died after suffering a heart attack that was triggered by terror. Can the fugitive be held responsible for the woman's death? Prosecutors said that he can under the state's so-called felony murder rule, which allows someone to be charged with murder if he or she causes another person's death while committing or fleeing from a felony crime such as robbery―even if it's unintentional.
一名來(lái)自北卡羅萊那州夏洛特市的男子被控一級(jí)謀殺罪，警方說(shuō)他嚇?biāo)懒艘幻?9歲的婦女。據(jù)美聯(lián)社報(bào)道，20歲的Larry Whitfield搶劫銀行未果，在試圖逃脫警方的抓捕的時(shí)候破門進(jìn)入Mary Parnell家，并隱藏在她家里。警方說(shuō)Larry Whitfield雖然沒有碰Parnell，但是Parnell由于受到恐懼，導(dǎo)致心臟病發(fā)作而死亡。這名逃犯應(yīng)該對(duì)該婦女的死亡負(fù)責(zé)嗎？檢察官說(shuō)Larry Whitfield應(yīng)該對(duì)Parnell的死亡負(fù)責(zé)，因?yàn)楦鶕?jù)該州的所謂重罪謀殺條例，如果嫌疑人在犯重罪（比如搶劫）或者犯罪后逃離的過(guò)程中致使另外一個(gè)人死亡，那么他（她）應(yīng)該被起訴謀殺，即使他（她）是無(wú)意中導(dǎo)致另外一個(gè)人死亡。
But, medically speaking, can someone actually be frightened to death? We asked Martin A. Samuels, chairman of the neurology department at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
但是，從醫(yī)學(xué)的角度來(lái)說(shuō)，一個(gè)人真的能被嚇?biāo)烂矗课覀儐枂朚artin A. Samuels，他是波士頓布里格姆及婦女醫(yī)院（Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston）神經(jīng)科主任。
Q:Is it possible to literally be scared to death?
A: Absolutely, no question about it.
問：人真的能被嚇?biāo)绬幔?/P>
答：絕對(duì)可能，這是毫無(wú)疑問的。
Q: Really? How does that happen?
A: The body has a natural protective mechanism called the fight-or-flight response, which was originally described by Walter Cannon [chairman of Harvard University's physiology department from 1906 to 1942]。 If, in the wild, an animal is faced with a life-threatening situation, the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system responds by increasing heart rate, increasing blood flow to the muscles, dilating the pupils, and slowing digestion, among other things. All of this increases the chances of succeeding in a fight or running away from, say, an aggressive jaguar. This process certainly would be of help to primitive humans, but the problem, of course, is that in the modern world there is very limited advantage of the fight-or-flight response. There is a downside to revving up your nervous system like this.
問：真的嗎？那是怎樣發(fā)生的？
答：身體有個(gè)自然保護(hù)機(jī)制，叫做“斗爭(zhēng)還是逃避”反應(yīng)，Walter Cannon（他從1906年至1942年間任哈佛大學(xué)生理學(xué)系主任）首先描述了這個(gè)反應(yīng)。如果動(dòng)物在野外遇到危及生命的情景，這個(gè)自動(dòng)（無(wú)意識(shí)的）神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)會(huì)做出響應(yīng)，這時(shí)心跳加快、肌血增多、瞳孔放大、消化減慢以及伴隨其它種種反應(yīng)。所有這些反應(yīng)都增大了在危險(xiǎn)面前（比如美洲豹的進(jìn)攻）無(wú)論是斗爭(zhēng)還是逃跑的成功機(jī)會(huì)。但是對(duì)于人來(lái)說(shuō)，神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)的這種反應(yīng)有負(fù)面作用。
Q: How can the fight-or-flight response lead to death?
A: The autonomic nervous system uses the hormone adrenaline, a neurotransmitter, or chemical messenger, to send signals to various parts of the body to activate the fight-or-flight response. This chemical is toxic in large amounts; it damages the visceral (internal) organs such as the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. It is believed that almost all sudden deaths are caused by damage to the heart. There is almost no other organ that would fail so fast as to cause sudden death. Kidney failure, liver failure, those things don't kill you suddenly.
問：“斗爭(zhēng)還是逃避”反應(yīng)怎么會(huì)導(dǎo)致死亡？
答：這套自動(dòng)神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)利用腎上腺激素（一種神經(jīng)遞質(zhì)，或者稱為化學(xué)信使）把信號(hào)發(fā)送到身體的各個(gè)部分，以便激活“斗爭(zhēng)還是逃避”反應(yīng)。大量的腎上腺激素是有害的；它會(huì)損壞內(nèi)臟器官，比如心臟、肺、肝臟和腎、人們認(rèn)為幾乎所有的突然死亡都是由于心臟受損所致。幾乎沒有其它的器官像心臟那樣衰竭如此之快，以至于導(dǎo)致突然死亡。腎臟衰竭、肝臟衰竭是不會(huì)突然致死的。
Q: What exactly happens in the heart when it's flooded with too much adrenaline?
A: Adrenaline from the nervous system lands on receptors of cardiac myocytes (heart-muscle cells)， and this causes calcium channels in the membranes of those cells to open. Calcium ions rush into the heart cells and this causes the heart muscle to contract. If it's a massive overwhelming storm of adrenaline, calcium keeps pouring into the cells and the muscle just can't relax.
There is this specially adapted system of muscle and nerve tissue in the heart―the sinoatrial (SA) node, the atrioventricular node, and the Purkinje fibers―which sets the rhythm of the heart. If this system is overwhelmed with adrenaline, the heart can go into abnormal rhythms that are not compatible with life. If one of those is triggered, you will drop dead.
問：當(dāng)過(guò)量的腎上腺激素涌入心臟的時(shí)候，心臟中到底發(fā)生了什么情況？
答：來(lái)自神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)的腎上腺激素“著陸”到心臟肌細(xì)胞的受體，這使得這些肌細(xì)胞的膜中的鈣通道打開。鈣離子涌入到心臟細(xì)胞，導(dǎo)致心肌收縮。如果是大量的腎上腺激素涌入心臟，那么鈣離子就會(huì)持續(xù)不斷地涌入，從而導(dǎo)致心肌連續(xù)收縮，得不到休息。
心臟中有一套由肌肉和神經(jīng)組織構(gòu)成的特殊體系，它們控制著心臟的節(jié)奏。這個(gè)體系由竇房結(jié)、房室結(jié)和浦金氏纖維（Purkinje fibers）組成。如果這個(gè)體系中的腎上腺激素大大過(guò)量，那么心跳就會(huì)不正常，生命就會(huì)危險(xiǎn)。如果這個(gè)體系中的某一項(xiàng)被過(guò)量腎上腺激素激活，人就會(huì)死亡。
Q: What is an example of one of these deadly heart rhythms?
A: In most cases, it's probably ventricular fibrillation that causes these sudden deaths from fear. Ventricular fibrillation basically causes the ventricles (lower chambers of the heart) to vibrate in a way that hampers their ability to deliver blood to the body.
問：舉一個(gè)這些致命的非正常心跳節(jié)奏的一個(gè)例子？
答：大多數(shù)情況下，很可能是由于心室顫動(dòng)導(dǎo)致恐懼引發(fā)的突然死亡。心室顫動(dòng)主要導(dǎo)致心室（心臟下方的腔室）的振動(dòng)，這種振動(dòng)阻礙了心室向全身供血的能力。
Q: What other emotional states besides fear could lead to these fatal heart rhythms?
A: Any strong positive or negative emotions such as happiness or sadness. There are people who have died in intercourse or in religious passion. There was a case of a golfer who hit a hole in one, turned to his partner and said, "I can die now"―and then he dropped dead. A study in Germany found an increase of sudden cardiac deaths on the days that the German soccer team was playing in the World Cup. For about seven days after the 9/11 terrorists attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon there was an increase of sudden cardiac death among New Yorkers.
問：除了恐懼之外，還有哪些其它情緒狀態(tài)能導(dǎo)致這些致命的心跳節(jié)奏？
答：任何強(qiáng)的正面的或者負(fù)面的情緒，比如快樂和悲傷，都能導(dǎo)致這些致命的心跳節(jié)奏。有人曾經(jīng)在性交或者狂熱的宗教激情中死去。曾經(jīng)有一個(gè)高爾夫球手，他打了一個(gè)一桿進(jìn)洞，然后轉(zhuǎn)向他的伙伴說(shuō)到：“我現(xiàn)在可以死了”---然后他倒地就死了。在德國(guó)進(jìn)行的一項(xiàng)研究表明，在德國(guó)足球隊(duì)踢世界杯的期間，死于突發(fā)性心臟病的病例提高了。在9/11恐怖分子襲擊世貿(mào)大樓和五角大樓之后大約7天里，紐約市民中死于突發(fā)性心臟病的病例增多了。
Q: Who is most likely to suffer from sudden death?
A: A predisposition to heart disease would probably increase your risk of sudden death, but it happens at all ages and can happen to otherwise healthy people.
問：哪些人最易罹難于突然死亡？
答：易患心臟病的人可能會(huì)增大突然死亡的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，但是它也發(fā)生于所有年齡段的人，而且也可能發(fā)生在健康人身上。
Vocabulary：
Elude：逃避
Cop：（口語(yǔ)）警察
Botched：糟糕的；搞砸的
Fugitive：逃亡的
Prosecutor：檢察官
Felony：重罪
Neurology：神經(jīng)（?。W(xué)
Physiology：生理學(xué)
Dilate: 放大
Pupil: 瞳孔
Jaguar: 美洲豹
Primitive: 原始的
Rev up: 增大；提高
Hormone: 荷爾蒙
Adrenaline: 腎上腺激素
Neurotransmitter: 神經(jīng)遞質(zhì)
Visceral: 內(nèi)臟的
Receptor: 受體
Cardiac: 心臟的
Myocyte: 肌細(xì)胞
Sinoatrial: 竇房的
Atrioventricular: 心房與心室的
Ventricle: 心室
Hamper: 阻礙
Predisposition: 傾向性
?。ㄓ⒄Z(yǔ)原文來(lái)自SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN《科學(xué)美國(guó)人》http://www.sciam.com）
