What happens to your heart when you’re in love?
A researcher at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) explains what happens to your heart when you are in love.
Peter Crawford, M.D., Ph.D., is the Director of the Cardiovascular Metabolism Program at SBP in Lake Nona, Florida. He is a physician scientist specializing in researching how the heart works.
What happens to your heart when you are in love?
“It’s a mind-body connectivity. Anything that happens to the heart is downstream to what’s happening in our brain. It’s clear the adrenaline response the heart receives, guided by the brain, can affect how vigorously the heart squeezes,” Crawford says.
What are butterflies and can they be dangerous to our health?
“Butterflies and adrenaline in general are short lived and not extreme. They establish a dialogue between the nervous system and the heart and that dialogue is healthy, just like dialogue among people is healthy.
“But then the body counters. It’s very intense, and that counter response makes people feel like they are about to pass out! There is such a rush, the body tries to keep us in balance and in check by decreasing blood pressure, and can reduce it to the point where we feel like we are going to pass out. Like groupies who see their band crushes for the first time (ie: the Beatles on Ed Sullivan).
“It is important to know that it’s not life threatening. Tell yourself ,‘I am going to remain calm. I am not going to be ruled by this’,” Crawford explains.
And when you have a broken heart?
“When someone is sad because they have lost someone they love, it can have adverse effects on the heart can and be unhealthy over time. You may not eat well, or abuse substances, or not do things you like to do. It sets up a vicious cycle that over time is unhealthy for the heart.
“We do cardiovascular research at SBP. What we are trying to do is understand how regulating the fuel the heart burns (sugar or fat) can either result in a sick heart or getting the heart better if it is sick,” says Crawford.
“Whether we are in love on Valentine’s Day or our heart is broken, we want to make sure we are balancing our nutrients. Don’t take in too many simple sugars by devouring a box of chocolates. And exercise the heart and brain by engaging in physical activity, which causes an adrenaline response that is good for the heart. We need to continue to eat well and exercise because that will allow us to enjoy being in love even more…or recover from a broken heart even faster,” according to Crawford.
