Matters of the heart

The heart, as we discover in this edition of ABC Radio National’s Life Matters podcast hosted by Tegan Taylor, and recorded live at World Science Festival Brisbane – is so much more than a muscle.

 

Featuring heart experts, Adam Bode, researching human love in PhD studies, Associate Professor Sonia Shah from the Institute for Molecular Biosciences at the University of Queensland, and Professor John Fraser, the founder and director of the Critical Care Research Group at The Prince Charles Hospital and The University of Queensland, who dive into the science of love and matters of the heart.

 

As a human mating researcher, Adam Bode shares the point of love from an evolutionary perspective:

“We can draw inferences from modern behaviour, and you’ve got to remember there’s many different types of love – maternal love, love for our pets, people love sporting teams – all of these types of love played a role in survival of the species,” he says.

 

Romantic love developed through evolution as a means of survival hundreds of thousands of years ago when life was challenging. Being pregnant and raising a young child on your own was dangerous given the environmental risks, so over time, romantic love developed, creating a team of two to raise offspring.

 

How does love affect the heart?

Professor Fraser continues the discussion and explains that there is now significant data and research indicating that love is good for humans – People married or in relationships are happier than those who are single. People in love experience less depressive illness, love reduces your risk of contracting infections and pneumonia, and people in love experience less hypertension.

 

A simple cuddle releases oxytocin and sleeping in the same bed gives you a better night’s sleep.

 

What becomes of the broken-hearted?

The guests turn to the topic of the “broken-heart” and discuss broken heart syndrome or Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, Professor Shah, who researches the links between heart and brain disorders, shares more:

 

“(In broken heart syndrome), the left ventricle which is the main pumping chamber of the heart becomes weaker, and it can be triggered by extreme emotional stress,” she said.

 

Interestingly, broken heart syndrome appears to affect more women than men, data indicates that 85% of broken heart syndrome patients are middle-aged to older women, with symptoms similar to heart attacks – chest pain, sweaty, nauseous.

 

Professor Fraser recalls a patient who had just attended the funeral for her husband of 40 years. She was experiencing deep emotional stress which is likely to have triggered the onset of the condition.

 

Why break-ups are unbearable:

Adam shares the chemical reactions humans experience when a love rejection occurs:

 

“Break ups, or loss of a loved one through death, is somewhat akin to an opioid withdraw,” he says.

 

“Heroin addicts report a lot of very similar symptoms to someone undergoing a break up.”

 

These symptoms can include feeling unable to eat, or sleep, and experiencing crying spells. For those experiencing the dark cloud of a break-up, Adam says time is the best predictor of when someone will feel better.

 

As good as new:

Ending the conversation on a positive note, Professor Fraser describes heart transplants as “one of the most beautiful things in medicine” and has been involved in trials to prolong the ‘life’ of a heart being transplanted.

 

Prior to the trial, 3 out of 4 hearts were unable to be used, as too much time had gone by for the heart to be viable.

 

Professor Fraser explained that a clinical trial to give the heart ‘Medical Gatorade’ – that is oxygen and blood to keep the cells alive while it was enroute to its new body, extended the viability of the heart from 4-5 hours up to 10 hours, meaning that more hearts were arriving to transplant surgeries in better condition.

 

For more fascinating discussion on the science of love, listen to Life Matters podcast on ABC Radio National.