There is much more to the heart than you may have learned in school. Even if you were the best student in your class in Biology, you may be surprised to read these lesser-known heart tidbits.
The all-important heart is constantly at work, pumping blood (about 2,000 gallons a day) filled with essential oxygen and nutrients to your body’s organs 24/7. Everything about the heart and how it works is interesting, but here are some facts we found particularly funny and fascinating.
Here are our 10 favorite:
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2. Mondays and mornings get a bad rap — Manic Mondays, Monday blues, Hangover mornings etc. Research has shown that more heart attacks occur on Mondays than any other day of the week. Also it’s more likely to happen during the morning than in any other part of the day. So, just make sure that you are relaxed on Mondays and in mornings in general. Beware of Monday mornings, they can be really harmful.
3. Who would’ve known that heart and teeth are interrelated?
Taking care of your teeth can have a dramatic impact on heart health. If you develop gum disease, your chance having a heart attack or a stroke increases by 50%. Well, now you have one more reason to look after your teeth more closely.
4. Early Egyptians believed that the heart and other major organs had wills of their own and would move around inside the body. Well, not just Egyptians, women also believe that men’s heart is not placed in their chest. Have a look at this photo and you’ll get what I mean…
This is the one fact that probably made you laugh, right?
5. A woman’s heart typically beats faster than a man’s. The heart of an average man beats approximately 70 times a minute, whereas the average woman has a heart rate of 78 per minute.
6. The heart begins beating at four weeks after conception and does not stop until death. Yeah, your heart is older than you, as it started beating before even you were born.
7. For men, there is a strange link between the ring finger and the heart. According to scientific studies, the longer a man’s ring finger is, the lower his chance of having a heart attack.
8. Your heart doesn’t stop when you sneeze. The increased pressure in your chest can affect blood flow to the heart, briefly changing its rhythm, but contrary to common belief, your heart doesn’t skip a beat when you sneeze. That doesn’t mean you should stop saying “bless you” or “gesundheit” after a sneeze, though. It’s only polite!
Only if a broken heart could have been unbroken.
9. You really can have a “broken heart.” When you experience an emotionally difficult event, like a death of a loved one or the end of a romantic relationship, your body releases stress hormones. These hormones can sometimes cause symptoms similar to those of a heart attack. In some cases, there hormones can cause an actual heart attack.
10. A hug a day keeps the doctor away. When you partake in a warm embrace with someone you love, your body releases oxytocin, the feel-good hormone, which has the power to reduce stress hormones and lower blood pressure, thus it’s good for your heart.
It’s time for a heart-healing hug!
