Are You REALLY a Grinch?

Every Christmas, my family watches a few holiday classics. These include It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, The Charlie Brown Christmas Special, A Christmas Carol and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Jim Carrey plays a wonderfully creepy Grinch, but I still prefer the original cartoon that first aired on CBS in December of 1966. As a child, my family watched it every year...that hasn't changed, even though I'm now fifty-years old.

Though we tend to classify some as a Scrooge or Grinch if they fail to joyfully embrace the Christmas Season, it's possible that the Grinch had a physical condition that contributed to his bah humbug spirit. One of the statements from the classic story shares the Grinch's meanness stems from having a heart that was "two sizes too small." Jim Carrey's version conveys the message that the Grinch became a mean recluse because of being bullied as a child, but what if his cantankerous nature stemmed from an untreated health condition?

The medical term for the condition (a heart that's too small) is POTS, short for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. About 500,000 in the U.S., mostly young women, are affected.

"It's a tough problem," reported Dr. David Kass, a professor of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University who has studied the Grinch. "We don't see this very much."

Though rare, some people are born with a small heart, and the side effects of such a birth defect are unpleasant to say the least. According to Dr. Kass a person with a small heart will experience a constant rapid heart rate which makes a person feel ill, which in turn makes the individual feel grumpy and irritable. Those adjectives sum up the Grinch's behavior quite well.

Researcher Benjamin D. Levine, MD, director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, has conducted research in this field of study. He shares his personal research has shown that if a person was born with too small of a heart, "We made it bigger [through exercise] and the symptoms went away."

His research team found that exercise training made patients feel better without using the beta-blocker medication commonly given to lower the heart rate. Though his study included only nineteen people, ten of the nineteen were cured. After being cured of the heart condition, participants experienced a welcomed boost in both physical functioning and social functioning.

Maybe that's what helped cure the Grinch...

The Grinch despised the Christmas Season and determined to keep Christmas from coming to the town of Who-ville. So, he devised a scheme to strip Who-ville of any vestiges of Christmas. He disguised himself as Santa Claus and visited the unsuspecting inhabitants of Who-ville during the nighttime hours of Christmas Eve. He spent the overnight hours sliding down chimneys, stripping living rooms of their Christmas trees, presents and stockings. He stuffed bags full of gifts and decorations and then pushed these heavy sacks up the chimneys and loaded them on his sled. Can you imagine the physical exertion, the amount of vigorous exercise and energy expended to carry out his evil plan? Maybe this night of cardio boosted his heart's capacity "three sizes that day."

Maybe the Christmas Spirit of the Who's down in Who-ville wasn't the basis for the Grinch's change of heart after all.

The story shares that the reason the Grinch experienced a makeover is that he heard the Who's singing on Christmas Day. He expected weeping and wailing because Christmas had been stolen. Instead, he heard joyful voices lifted in melodic unison, celebrating the arrival of Christmas morning. Maybe this moment of inspiration had nothing to do with the Grinch's metamorphosis. Maybe it was the heart pumping exercise of burglarizing an entire town.

And if that's the case...obviously, Dr. Seuss isn't a cardiologist.

If you're experiencing Grinch-like synonyms, try exercise. According to the Help Guide, "Regular exercise can have a profoundly positive impact on depression, anxiety, and ADHD. It also relieves stress, improves memory, helps you sleep better, and boosts your overall mood."

I think everyone around the globe understands the pain of isolation and uncertainty, especially after the last two years. Don't let a "heart two-sizes too small" strip away your ability to appreciate Christmas. If need be, walk around the block a few times, ride a stationary bike, do fifty jumping jacks...anything to get the heart beating...well, other than stealing your neighbors' Frosty the Snowman inflatable and the gifts under their tree.

A healthy heart contributes to a healthy mind. Get some exercise and enjoy the Christmas Season.