You really can die of a broken heart. Doctors have a name for it
Sudden grief or shock can stun the heart muscle and look exactly like a heart attack. It's called takotsubo syndrome.
In 1990, doctors in Japan described patients who arrived with every sign of a heart attack, crushing chest pain, breathlessness, changes on the ECG, yet their arteries turned out to be clear. On scans, the heart's main pumping chamber had ballooned at the bottom into a shape that reminded them of a takotsubo, a round pot fishermen use to trap octopus.
It is now called takotsubo syndrome, or broken heart syndrome. It is usually set off by a sudden emotional or physical shock: the death of a husband, wife or child, terrible news, a violent argument, an accident, even a frightening surprise. A surge of stress hormones seems to stun the heart muscle for a while.
About nine in ten reported cases are women, most of them after menopause. Most people recover fully within weeks. But in the first days it can be as dangerous as a heart attack, with a risk of heart failure and irregular heartbeats, and it cannot be told apart from a heart attack without tests in hospital.
It is one of the clearest reminders that the mind and the heart are not separate.
What to take from this - Chest pain, pressure, breathlessness or fainting after a shock or a death in the family is an emergency. Go to hospital. Don't wait to see if it settles. - Look after the person who is grieving, not only in the first week but in the months after, when the visitors stop coming. - Long-term stress, anxiety and depression are real risk factors for heart disease. Treating them is looking after your heart too.
Where this comes from - Ghadri JR et al. International Expert Consensus Document on Takotsubo Syndrome. European Heart Journal, 2018. - Templin C et al. Clinical Features and Outcomes of Takotsubo (Stress) Cardiomyopathy. New England Journal of Medicine, 2015.
Keep reading with a free account.
The full library is for Atulyam members. Sign up in a minute, or log in if you already have an account.
