Voodoo death

Voodoo death was a term coined by Walter Cannon and used in stress literature to describe the phenomenon of being literally scared to death.cite book | last = Aldwin | first = Carolyn | title = Stress, Coping, and Development, Second Edition | publisher = The Guilford Press | location = New York | year = 2007 | isbn = 1572308400 ]

In Humans

In his literature, Cannon described the case of an Australian aborigine who was cursed by a local witch doctor and died several days later of no obvious organic causes.

In Animals

Transportation of animals can result in death. Among pigs this is called porcine stress syndrome. Mortality rates in transportation are highest among wild animals, although this can also occur among domesticated ones.

Etiology

Cannon believed that such a phenomenon might be caused by overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system. In such a case, increased blood pressure would decrease circulating blood volume by forcing liquids out of the vascular system and into surrounding tissues. If this process goes on long enough, blood volume becomes insufficient to sustain adequate blood pressure levels, the arterioles dilate in an attempt to increase blood flow, and blood pressure can drop dramatically, leading to shock and cardiovascular arrest. This can be aggravated by lack of food and drink, but would nonetheless by the effect of stress.

ee also

* Stress (biological)

References