Top 10 Amazing Facts About Your

Heart
Matters of the heart have baffled humans since the dawn of time, with sonnets and entire books devoted
to the meaning of love. Now scientists are finding that the blood pump in your chest is just as complex.
You can't live or love without it. Find out the sappy scoop on the heart, including how sex and laughter
are indeed good for it, and how bad news really can break it.
Weighing in at 10 ounces, the blood-filled muscle called the heart has become the universal symbol
of love. The Greeks believed the heart was the seat of the spirit, the Chinese associated it with the center
forhappiness and the Egyptians thought the emotions and intellect arose from the heart. No one is sure the
exact origin of the love association, however. One idea is that the heart got its "love mark" in the ancient
Greek city of Cyrene, now in modern-day Libya. The colony was known for a plant called Silphium, with
heart-shaped seed pods. Silphium had medicinal properties, and possibly also was used as an herbal
contraceptive.
Alas, a broken heart can cause one to swoon. A breakup with a loved one or news of a family
death literally can lead to broken hearts in the form of heightened risk for heart attack, studies have
shown. Such trauma can also trigger the release of stress hormones into the bloodstream that temporarily
"stun" the heart. The resulting symptoms mimic those of a heart attack - chest pain and shortness of
breath - but this type of achy heart can bounce back in days with some TLC and rest.
In under a minute, your heart can pump blood to every cell in your body. And over the course of a day,
about 100,000 heart beats shuttle 2,000 gallons of oxygen-rich blood many times through about 60,000
miles of branching blood vessels that link together the cells of our organs and body parts. That's a hefty
job for a fist-sized muscle.
A glass of Merlot can go straight to the heart, and recent research shows that so too can the white variety.
Scientists have attributed the heart benefits of reds to grape skins, which are chock full of
certainantioxidants. Since the purple-hued skins get removed to make Chardonnays, many scientists had
assumed white wine likely wouldn't do the heart any good. A lab experiment on rats showed that a grape's
pulp conceals cardio-protective compounds that rival those found in reds. Red or white? Just follow your
heart.
A hearty laugh - the kind that sends a stream of tears from your eyes - does more than warm the soul.
Research has shown the guffaw can cause the lining of blood vessel walls called endothelium to relax,
increasing blood flow for up to 45 minutes after the laugh attack. Damage to the endothelium can lead to
the narrowing of blood vessels and eventually cardiovascular diseases. That's no laughing matter...or
maybe it is...
Some people really do have bigger hearts than others. Rather than asign of affection, an enlarged heart
can signal underlying heart disease. The most common type, called dilated cardiomyopathy, occurs when
the heart's chambers stretch out and enlarge. The bulging saps the heart's pump power, depriving the
body's organs of enough blood. If left untreated, a big heart can lead to heart failure.
A seemingly sheepish look from Fido or that endearing brush-by from your cat can make you wonder if
your pet could possibly communicate with you. A recent study adds equine friends to the list of
emotionally-responsive animals. A scientist found that horse's heart rates mirror those of human subjects
touching them. The horse emotion-detector could someday replace procedures used to measure a
patient's stress hormones. Next, the researcher will study service dogs to better match them with humans.
A love-torn heart can be painful enough to make you wish you could get a new heart or at least a
cardio repair kit. Both of the latter options could some day be realities. Scientists are studying
the red-spotted newt to help them develop cell therapies for humans with physically damaged
hearts. This amphibian can turn its cells back in time, as if they were stem cells, in order to build
up new heart muscle. In another study, scientists engineered a beating heart from
embryonic stem cellsin the lab.

Girls rule in some matters of the heart, but when it comes to research into cardiovascular disease
it's the guys who come into the spotlight. For decades, heart disease and heart attacks have been
viewed as a man's illness. But this is far from the truth. Heart disease kills 500,000
American women each year, topping male numbers by 50,000. Another gender gap: Women
don't tend to experience the Hollywood-standardheart attack in which gripping chest pain sends
you keeling over. Instead, women have reported tightness, aching or pressure in the heart, plus
other symptoms like nausea, back and jaw pain.
If you can't make it to the gym, try fooling around. Your heart might thank you. A study of 2,500
men aged 49 to 54 found that having anorgasm at least three times a week cut in half the
likelihood of death from coronary heart disease. And barring underlying health issues and the
possibility of contracting a sexually transmitted disease, sex can give you a workout. By some
estimates, a vigorous sex session can double a person's heart rate and burn up about 200 calories,
or the equivalent of a brisk 15-minute run. So staying in bed might be just what the doctor
orders.