After a big fright, the blood literally freezes. The level of clotting factor VIII increases in the blood of people who watch a horror movie.
“Freezing the blood!” This comment comes up often in the mouths of fans of the horror genre. Watching a horror movie can be literally chilling, according to a study in the Christmas edition of British Medical Journal, which compiles serious works on quirky subjects.
The protocol for this research resembles a traditional clinical trial in every way. Approved by the ethics committee of the University of Leiden (Netherlands), it has enrolled 24 staff members or student body of the establishment. These volunteers, aged at least 30, had to be in good health.
They went to two private screenings in two separate groups. The first movie, A Year in Champagne, concerns the production of champagne. “It’s a very, very boring movie,” says Banne Nemeth in a video press release. The second film, Insidious, was rated at 7 on average, on a fear scale from 1 to 10!
Mentions from Antiquity
Fifteen minutes before and after this viewing, the researchers took blood samples from the 24 volunteers. The goal: to determine if a good fright actually freezes the blood. Because the mentions of this phenomenon are numerous and old: the oldest goes back to Virgil, author of The Aeneid ((“My blood, to this object, freezes in my veins”). And several languages mention it: in addition to the French speakers, the English speakers evoke ” To bloodcurdling fear “, German speakers write” das blut in den Adern erstarrt “.
These expressions have a scientific basis, conclude the Dutch. The researchers measured the level of factor VIII, which promotes blood clotting. It only increases in 14% of people who watch the film on champagne. but in 57% of those who saw Insidious. “When you are really, really scared, all your nerves are in a state of hyperexcitability,” says Luul Scheres. The experience of fear causes your body to prepare for blood loss. “
To freeze the blood would therefore be a defensive reflex. And indeed, it is only factor VIII that increases, and not the other proteins that cause coagulation. Fear therefore cannot cause a clot to form. The advantages, without the disadvantages.
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