Scared to death
On Halloween:Martin A. Samuels, a neurologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, says it's possible to die from intense fear.
"Can one be scared to death? Yes," he said. "There is unequivocal evidence that one can be scared to death under certain and very specific circumstances."
Samuels has dedicated his life to exploring sudden death.
After studying hundreds of cases, he says his theory is that catastrophic events — like the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks; an earthquake; or the loss of a loved one — can cause someone to literally be scared to death.
"I know this because I have cases of children with absolutely no heart disease who died on amusement-park rides," Samuels said.
Read more.
What's scary about that donut? What isn't?
2 Comments:
Aren't there non-heart disease reasons that people can die on amusement-park rides (e.g. blood clots, head trauma)? Not that I don't believe it though... gerbils are certainly prone to "sudden loud-noise death syndrome" (SLoNDS). In my lab back at CMU, apparently one of the doors to the animal laboratory was left open during a fire alarm, and when the researchers returned, one gerbil was just huddled in a corner, dead from the shock.
...Or maybe he was faking it so he wouldn't have to go outside during the drill...
Wed Nov 01, 12:17:24 AM CST
A malingering gerbil, lolz
Thu Nov 02, 12:19:00 AM CST
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