Is it possible to break a heart? 7 surprising facts about the most important human organ
Miscellaneous / / May 13, 2022
It is afraid of colds and strong feelings, and it can still beat even after brain death.
1. The heart is not located on the left side of the chest
Although many "grab the heart" on the left side, the organ is not there. A heart locatedHeart Anatomy / Texas Heart Institute in the middle of the chest, between the right and left lungs. It is slightly tilted to the left, which is why there is a deceptive sensation. However, some people are born with dextrocardia - their organ is displaced to the right. In most cases, this anomaly has no pronounced symptomsDextrocardia / National Library of Medicine and the person leads a normal life.
Heart pain also does not necessarily occur in the left side of the chest. She is may spreadChest pain / Mayo Clinic on the back, neck, jaw, shoulders and arms. And sometimes - similarheart attack. Symptoms / National Health Service the pain that people experience with indigestion.
2. The heart can beat outside the body
The organ has its own electric systemAnatomy and Function of the Heart's Electrical System / Johns Hopkins Medicine
which causes it to contract and pump blood. The impulses are generated by the sinoatrial node - this is a special area that is located in the right atrium. He creates by 60–100Anatomy and Function of the Heart's Electrical System / Johns Hopkins Medicine stimuli per minute and distributes them throughout the conduction system. Because of this, the heart continues to beat even after the brain has been removed from the body or the brain has died—as long as there is oxygen.Specialists have learned to keep the body running for hours. For example, a few years ago a 34-year-old man transplanted a heart that was out of the body for five hours. This was made possible thanks to the device "Heart in a box". The donor organ is placed in a special box and tubes are attached to it, which supply oxygen, blood and nutrients. Prior to the creation of such a device, organs kept in a refrigerator with ice. This method allowed the heart to live up to four hours.
3. You may not notice a heart attack
While symptoms of coronary artery disease or a heart attack often include chest tightness and shortness of breath, there are many other atypical manifestations. Human can testHeart attack / Mayo Clinic fatigue, sweating, nausea, dizziness, pain in the neck or arms. Some people have no symptoms at all or they are very mild. Researchers at Harvard believeThe danger of “silent” heart attacks / Harvard Health Publishingthat "silent" heart attacks account for 45% of all cases. Symptoms can be so mild and transient that you simply write them off as other reasonsThe danger of “silent” heart attacks / Harvard Health Publishing. For example, decide that fatigue and poor sleep are caused by overwork.
A "silent" heart attack is not at all harmless. He increasesSilent heart attack: What are the risks? / Mayo Clinic the risk of a second heart attack, which can be fatal. If you feelThe danger of “silent” heart attacks / Harvard Health Publishing constant fatigue, shortness of breath or heartburn, it is better to talk to a specialist. An electrocardiogram or echocardiogram can help you know for sure if you've had a heart attack.
4. Stress can really break a heart
Difficult experiences really cause broken heart syndromeBroken heart syndrome / Mayo Clinic. The person experiences severe chest pain and may think they are having a heart attack. The fact is that during stress, the body produces adrenaline. Excess hormone leadsBroken Heart Syndrome / Johns Hopkins Medicine to the narrowing of the small arteries, and blood flow to the heart is temporarily reduced. Most at risk for broken heart syndrome exposedBroken heart syndrome / Mayo Clinic women, people over 50, and patients with mental illness such as depression or anxiety.
In most cases, the case does without serious consequences. But there are also complications: pulmonary edema, low blood pressure or heart failure. Sometimes broken heart syndrome leadsBroken heart syndrome / Mayo Clinic to death.
5. A man can live with two hearts
The Gallifreyan Doctor Who had two hearts, thanks to which he could live even if one organ was damaged. People with two hearts are not born. But sometimes patients with cardiomyopathyCardiomyopathy / Mayo Clinic may receive an additional organ as a result of the operation. Instead of transplanting a donor heart to replace his own, the surgeon leavesTwo hearts are better than one for toddler who undergoes historic operation / Stanford University both by sharing their work. The fact is that people with this diagnosis have very high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery, due to which the pressure in the lungs also increases. Therefore, it is impossible to simply replace a diseased heart - a new one may not withstand the load.
The operation is rare, and most often it is performed on children. Happy cases are known when such patients grow upFrom baby to man with a piggyback heart: long-term success of heterotopic heart transplantation / Oxford University Press and lead an active life.
6. The flu is dangerous for the heart
If a person has heart problems, he should be especially attentive to his condition during the cold season. Respiratory symptoms are sometimes difficult distinguishHeart Disease: Considering Cold Relief / University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester from heart failure. And within a week of being diagnosed with the flu, the risk of having a heart attack increasesAcute Myocardial Infarction after Laboratory‑Confirmed Influenza Infection / The New England Journal of Medicine six times. Elderly people and those who have already suffered a heart attack are most susceptible to it.
Influenza Prevention Experts adviseFlu & People with Heart Disease or History of Stroke / Centers for Disease Control and Prevention get vaccinated once a year. Vaccination will help keep you from getting sick. And if you still catch the virus - will reduce the riskAssociation between influenza vaccination and cardiovascular outcomes in high‑risk patients: a meta‑analysis / PubMed get heart complications.
7. The heart never rests
It is a "super pump" that pumps oxygen-rich blood to every organ in the body every minute. Fetal heartbeat appearsWhat happens in the second month of pregnancy? / Planned Parenthood 5–6 weeks after conception, and then the organ does not stop until death. Every day he shrinkingHeart Basics / Hoag an average of 100,000 times and pumps about 7,500 liters of blood.
The body cannot rest. If a person has a cardiac arrest, he may die. This state causeCardiac Arrest / Cleveland Clinic arrhythmia, heart attack, heart failure, trauma associated with large blood loss. Sometimes with a sudden "shutdown" faceSudden cardiac arrest / Mayo Clinic even people who have not had a diagnosed cardiovascular disease. When the heart stops, a person faints, his pulse is not felt and there is no breathing. The patient can saveCardiac Arrest / Cleveland Cliniconly if he receives immediate treatment.
Normally, the heart beats 60 to 100 times per minute. A change in heart rate is one of the signs of coronary disease. To diagnose the disease in the early stages, Russian scientists developed sensor system for continuous monitoring of the heart rate. The device weighs only 50 grams and is battery operated. It is attached to the patient's chest, where the system reads the heart rate and transmits it to a phone or computer. If the indicators are out of the norm, the sensor fixes this. A person can send data for analysis to a specialist, and only those episodes that cause anxiety - this allows you to speed up the diagnostic process. The prototype is currently being tested. In the future, scientists plan to expand the product line and develop special stations for institutions that will help develop telemedicine technologies.