Heart

Attached Image: broken_heart.jpg

10. Sex Appeal

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 an orgasm 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 trans-
mitted 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.


9. Female Hearts

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-standard heart 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.


8. Heart Mend

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 cells in the lab.

7. Heart-to-Heart

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.


6. Big Hearts

Some people really do have bigger hearts than others. Rather than a sign 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.

5. LOL: It's Good for You

A hearty laugh e the kind that sends a stream of tears from your eyes e 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 cardio-
vascular diseases. That's no laughing matter...or maybe it is...

4. Drink to Your Heart

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
certain antioxidants. 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.

3. Powerful Pump

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.

2. Broken Heart

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.

1. Love Sign

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 for
happiness 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.