Scienceclass#2 Can a heart be broken!?

Cartoon by ItsRose_Beth

Daniela, this was one of the final candidates of  `The Bachelor` yesterday, did not get the last rose from Leonard like she would have wished. No, instead she went home with a broken heart. At least that what she said. But wait a minute...a broken heart!?

Can a heart be broken?

As far as we know, a heart is a blood pumping organ. It´s walls are made of a special type of muscle tissue different from other muscle tissues which is referred to as the cardiac muscle (heart-muscle). The special feature of the heart-muscle just like the smooth muscle (muscle tissue in vessels) is that it contracts involuntary. This means that a person can not control its contraction.

The heart plays a central role in the body. It pumps blood to supply the whole body with oxygen, nutrients, warmth and on the other side helps the body to get rid of carbon dioxide and toxic wastes. If the heart function is aggrieved then the whole body suffers. No matter how much food we eat and how much fluids we drink, the nutrients can not reach our cells where they are required to provide energy, because without the heart there is no blood flow. 

There are so many ways in which heart function can be impaired. Blockage of heart vessels (Thrombosis and atherosclerosis) can lead to heart attacks, viruses can lead to heart infections (myocarditis)....etc

But, Daniela did not have blocked heart vessels or heart infections; and still she talked of being heart broken....! Did her pain really have anything to do with the heart?

Being in love is literally the best state to live in, because this is the state where your body is pumped with lots of `happy hormones` (dopamine, endorphin, serotonin). These hormones activate the same brain area (the left pre-frontal cortex) like cocaine and other drugs do. When you love a person you literally get addicted to that person like a junkie is addicted to drugs. You always keep wanting more of that person.

A break up on the other hand can be seen as a drug withdrawal (Entzug). The ´happy hormones´ cease to be produced and instead stress hormones like cortisol and Adrenalin dominate our brain. Our bodies get in a state of fight or flight mode where the heart and the lung activities are accelerated, blood supply to other organs like stomach and kidney are minimized and muscle blood supply is increased. During this mode the heart is force to beat faster than usual increasing the heart rate. At that time we suffer chest pains making us think that our heart is paining.

People undergoing a break up show increased brain activity on the same area like physically hurting people do. In other words when someone breaks up with you, he/she could have as well given you a punch on the face because the pain is the same.

Elite daily wrote: "To know true love, you must know heartbreak".

When a friend cries next time after a break up, don´t accuse them of being over-dramatic, just remember the pain is real!!!

Lots of luv
ItsRose_Beth