人真的可以被“嚇”死么
來源：
小編： 174Can a person be scared to death?
人能被嚇死么？
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.
一名來自北卡羅萊那州夏洛特市的男子被控一級謀殺罪，警方說他嚇死了一名79歲的婦女。據美聯社報道，20歲的Larry Whitfield搶劫銀行未果，在試圖逃脫警方的抓捕的時候破門進入Mary Parnell家，并隱藏在她家里。警方說Larry Whitfield雖然沒有碰Parnell，但是Parnell由于受到恐懼，導致心臟病發作而死亡。這名逃犯應該對該婦女的死亡負責嗎？檢察官說Larry Whitfield應該對Parnell的死亡負責，因為根據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程中致使另外一個人死亡，那么他（她）應該被起訴謀殺，即使他（她）是無意中導致另外一個人死亡。
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，從醫學的角度來說，一個人真的能被嚇死么？我們問問Martin A. Samuels，他是波士頓布里格姆及婦女醫院（Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston）神經科主任。
Q:Is it possible to literally be scared to death?
A: Absolutely, no question about it.
問：人真的能被嚇死嗎？
答：絕對可能，這是毫無疑問的。
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？那是怎樣發生的？
答：身體有個自然保護機制，叫做“斗爭還是逃避”反應，Walter Cannon（他從1906年至1942年間任哈佛大學生理學系主任）首先描述了這個反應。如果動物在野外遇到危及生命的情景，這個自動（無意識的）神經系統會做出響應，這時心跳加快、肌血增多、瞳孔放大、消化減慢以及伴隨其它種種反應。所有這些反應都增大了在危險面前（比如美洲豹的進攻）無論是斗爭還是逃跑的成功機會。但是對于人來說，神經系統的這種反應有負面作用。
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：“斗爭還是逃避”反應怎么會導致死亡？
答：這套自動神經系統利用腎上腺激素（一種神經遞質，或者稱為化學信使）把信號發送到身體的各個部分，以便激活“斗爭還是逃避”反應。大量的腎上腺激素是有害的；它會損壞內臟器官，比如心臟、肺、肝臟和腎、人們認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，以至于導致突然死亡。腎臟衰竭、肝臟衰竭是不會突然致死的。
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：當過量的腎上腺激素涌入心臟的時候，心臟中到底發生了什么情況？
答：來自神經系統的腎上腺激素“著陸”到心臟肌細胞的受體，這使得這些肌細胞的膜中的鈣通道打開。鈣離子涌入到心臟細胞，導致心肌收縮。如果是大量的腎上腺激素涌入心臟，那么鈣離子就會持續不斷地涌入，從而導致心肌連續收縮，得不到休息。
心臟中有一套由肌肉和神經組織構成的特殊體系，它們控制著心臟的節奏。這個體系由竇房結、房室結和浦金氏纖維（Purkinje fibers）組成。如果這個體系中的腎上腺激素大大過量，那么心跳就會不正常，生命就會危險。如果這個體系中的某一項被過量腎上腺激素激活，人就會死亡。
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：舉一個這些致命的非正常心跳節奏的一個例子？
答：大多數情況下，很可能是由于心室顫動導致恐懼引發的突然死亡。心室顫動主要導致心室（心臟下方的腔室）的振動，這種振動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能導致這些致命的心跳節奏？
答：任何強的正面的或者負面的情緒，比如快樂和悲傷，都能導致這些致命的心跳節奏。有人曾經在性交或者狂熱的宗教激情中死去。曾經有一個高爾夫球手，他打了一個一桿進洞，然后轉向他的伙伴說到：“我現在可以死了”---然后他倒地就死了。在德國進行的一項研究表明，在德國足球隊踢世界杯的期間，死于突發性心臟病的病例提高了。在9/11恐怖分子襲擊世貿大樓和五角大樓之后大約7天里，紐約市民中死于突發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增大突然死亡的風險，但是它也發生于所有年齡段的人，而且也可能發生在健康人身上。
Vocabulary：
Elude：逃避
Cop：（口語）警察
Botched：糟糕的；搞砸的
Fugitive：逃亡的
Prosecutor：檢察官
Felony：重罪
Neurology：神經（病）學
Physiology：生理學
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: 神經遞質
Visceral: 內臟的
Receptor: 受體
Cardiac: 心臟的
Myocyte: 肌細胞
Sinoatrial: 竇房的
Atrioventricular: 心房與心室的
Ventricle: 心室
Hamper: 阻礙
Predisposition: 傾向性
（英語原文來自SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN《科學美國人》http://www.sciam.com）
