Can a person be scared to death?

    人能被吓死么？

　　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.

　　一名来自北卡罗莱那州夏洛特市的男子被控一级谋杀罪，警方说他吓死了一名79岁的妇女。据美联社报道，20岁的Larry Whitfield抢劫银行未果，在试图逃脱警方的抓捕的时候破门进入Mary Parnell家，并隐藏在她家里。警方说Larry Whitfield虽然没有碰Parnell，但是Parnell由于受到恐惧，导致心脏病发作而死亡。这名逃犯应该对该妇女的死亡负责吗？检察官说Larry Whitfield应该对Parnell的死亡负责，因为根据该州的所谓重罪谋杀条例，如果嫌疑人在犯重罪（比如抢劫）或者犯罪后逃离的过程中致使另外一个人死亡，那么他（她）应该被起诉谋杀，即使他（她）是无意中导致另外一个人死亡。

　　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，从医学的角度来说，一个人真的能被吓死么？我们问问Martin A. Samuels，他是波士顿布里格姆及妇女医院（Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston）神经科主任。

　　Q:Is it possible to literally be scared to death?

　　A: Absolutely, no question about it.

　　问：人真的能被吓死吗？

　　答：绝对可能，这是毫无疑问的。

　　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.

　　问：真的吗？那是怎样发生的？

　　答：身体有个自然保护机制，叫做“斗争还是逃避”反应，Walter Cannon（他从1906年至1942年间任哈佛大学生理学系主任）首先描述了这个反应。如果动物在野外遇到危及生命的情景，这个自动（无意识的）神经系统会做出响应，这时心跳加快、肌血增多、瞳孔放大、消化减慢以及伴随其它种种反应。所有这些反应都增大了在危险面前（比如美洲豹的进攻）无论是斗争还是逃跑的成功机会。但是对于人来说，神经系统的这种反应有负面作用。

　　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.

　　问：“斗争还是逃避”反应怎么会导致死亡？

　　答：这套自动神经系统利用肾上腺激素（一种神经递质，或者称为化学信使）把信号发送到身体的各个部分，以便激活“斗争还是逃避”反应。大量的肾上腺激素是有害的；它会损坏内脏器官，比如心脏、肺、肝脏和肾、人们认为几乎所有的突然死亡都是由于心脏受损所致。几乎没有其它的器官像心脏那样衰竭如此之快，以至于导致突然死亡。肾脏衰竭、肝脏衰竭是不会突然致死的。

　　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.

　　问：当过量的肾上腺激素涌入心脏的时候，心脏中到底发生了什么情况？

　　答：来自神经系统的肾上腺激素“着陆”到心脏肌细胞的受体，这使得这些肌细胞的膜中的钙通道打开。钙离子涌入到心脏细胞，导致心肌收缩。如果是大量的肾上腺激素涌入心脏，那么钙离子就会持续不断地涌入，从而导致心肌连续收缩，得不到休息。

　　心脏中有一套由肌肉和神经组织构成的特殊体系，它们控制着心脏的节奏。这个体系由窦房结、房室结和浦金氏纤维（Purkinje fibers）组成。如果这个体系中的肾上腺激素大大过量，那么心跳就会不正常，生命就会危险。如果这个体系中的某一项被过量肾上腺激素激活，人就会死亡。

　　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.

　　问：举一个这些致命的非正常心跳节奏的一个例子？

　　答：大多数情况下，很可能是由于心室颤动导致恐惧引发的突然死亡。心室颤动主要导致心室（心脏下方的腔室）的振动，这种振动阻碍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.

　　问：除了恐惧之外，还有哪些其它情绪状态能导致这些致命的心跳节奏？

　　答：任何强的正面的或者负面的情绪，比如快乐和悲伤，都能导致这些致命的心跳节奏。有人曾经在性交或者狂热的宗教激情中死去。曾经有一个高尔夫球手，他打了一个一杆进洞，然后转向他的伙伴说到：“我现在可以死了”---然后他倒地就死了。在德国进行的一项研究表明，在德国足球队踢世界杯的期间，死于突发性心脏病的病例提高了。在9/11恐怖分子袭击世贸大楼和五角大楼之后大约7天里，纽约市民中死于突发性心脏病的病例增多了。

　　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.

　　问：哪些人最易罹难于突然死亡？

　　答：易患心脏病的人可能会增大突然死亡的风险，但是它也发生于所有年龄段的人，而且也可能发生在健康人身上。

　　Vocabulary：

　　Elude：逃避

　　Cop：（口语）警察

　　Botched：糟糕的；搞砸的

　　Fugitive：逃亡的

　　Prosecutor：检察官

　　Felony：重罪

　　Neurology：神经（病）学

　　Physiology：生理学

　　Dilate: 放大

　　Pupil: 瞳孔

　　Jaguar: 美洲豹

　　Primitive: 原始的

　　Rev up: 增大；提高

　　Hormone: 荷尔蒙

　　Adrenaline: 肾上腺激素

　　Neurotransmitter: 神经递质

　　Visceral: 内脏的

　　Receptor: 受体

　　Cardiac: 心脏的

　　Myocyte: 肌细胞

　　Sinoatrial: 窦房的

　　Atrioventricular: 心房与心室的

　　Ventricle: 心室

　　Hamper: 阻碍

　　Predisposition: 倾向性

　　（英语原文来自SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN《科学美国人》http://www.sciam.com）