双语阅读：人真的会被吓死吗？
受到惊吓后，我们常会脱口而出“吓死我了”，可人真的会被吓死吗?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.
美国北卡罗来纳州夏洛特市的一名男子因杀害了一名79岁老妇被以一级谋杀罪起诉，警方表示死者是被他吓死的。美联社报道说在抢劫银行未遂后为了躲避警察，20岁的劳瑞
•怀特非闯进了玛丽•帕内尔的家中躲了起来。警察说他没有接触帕内尔，但是死者是因为恐惧引起的心脏病发作而死。这个逃犯要对老妇的死负责吗?检察官说他可以根据国家的所谓的重罪谋杀规定所述，当一个人在犯罪或者从比如抢劫这样的重大犯罪中逃跑时致另外一个人死亡的，要被追究谋杀罪——即使这种结果不是故意造成的。
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，从医学上来讲，一个人真的会被吓死吗?我们咨询了布莱汉姆神经科主任Martin A. Samuels和波士顿的妇女医院。
Is it possible to literally be scared to death?
人有可能真的会被吓死吗?
Absolutely, no question about it.
当然，这毋庸置疑。
Really? How does that happen?
真的吗?怎么会这样呢?
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.
身体有一种叫“战或逃反映”的自我保护机制，最初是卡农这样描述的，他是哈佛大学1906到1942年生理学系的系主任。在野外，如果一只动物处在危及生命的情境下，固有的神经系统会表现为心跳加快，肌肉里面的血液流量加大，瞳孔放大，消化变慢，以及在其他一些方面的表现。所有这些增加了随后打斗或者比如说从一个来势凶猛的美洲豹跟前逃脱的机会。这种系统也肯定帮助了原始人类。但是，当然，问题是在现代社会里很少利用“战或逃反映”。神经系统在这方面的反映有所下滑。
How can the fight-or-flight response lead to death?
这种“战或逃反映”是怎样导致死亡的呢?
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.
自身的神经系统利用肾上腺素，一种神经传递介质或者说是化学信使，把信号传递在身体的各个部位以刺激“战或逃反映”。大量的这种化学物质是有毒的;对内脏(内部的)器官例如心脏，肺脏，肝脏和肾脏是有损害的。人们相信大多数的突发死亡都是由心脏受损引起的。几乎没有其他的器官会如此快的导致死亡。肾衰竭，肝衰竭是不会立即致人死亡的。
What exactly happens in the heart when it's flooded with too much
adrenaline?
那当心脏里的肾上腺素太多的时候到底心脏里发生了什么?
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.
神经系统的肾上腺素到达心肌细胞的感觉器官，会引起这些细胞上面的钙通道打开。钙涌向心脏细胞并引起心肌收缩。如果是巨多的肾上腺素，钙涌向这些细胞，肌肉就不能放松了。
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.
心脏中一般有肌肉调节系统和神经组织----窦房结，房室结，和浦肯雅纤维----这些控制着心率。如果这个系统里的肾上腺素太多，心脏就会出现不适应生命的非正常心率。如果这三个当中有一个不正常，人就会死亡。
What is an example of one of these deadly heart rhythms?
由心率致死的例子是什么?
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.
在大多数情况下，可能是心室颤动引起人在恐惧中暴亡。心室颤动从根本上引起心室以一种方式震动，阻碍了血液向身体供血的能力。
What other emotional states besides fear could lead to these fatal heart
rhythms?
除了因恐惧引起致命的心率问题之外还有其他情绪原因吗?
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.
任何强烈的正面的或者负面的情绪比如幸福或者悲伤(都会引起心率问题)。有人死于性交中或者宗教激情中。有个案例说一个高尔夫球员一杆进洞之后，转身告诉他的同伴说：“我开心死了”——随后便扔掉球杆死掉了。一向在德国的研究发现德国足球队在世界杯比赛的几天里因心脏原因暴亡的人数增加了。在9.11恐怖袭击世贸大楼和五角大楼之后的7天里，在纽约人中因心脏问题暴亡的人数增多了。
Who is most likely to suffer from sudden death?
什么样的人最有可能遭遇暴亡?
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.
易患心脏疾病的体质可能会增加暴亡的危险，并且在任何年龄段都可能发生，并且会因其他原因发生在健康的人身上。
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
Predisposition: 倾向性
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