Broken heart syndrome can stress Valentine’s Day

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Valentine’s Day isn’talways about happy couples, Buckhead’s Piedmont Hospital reminded us through apress release. Plenty of single and heart-broken people would rather forget theholiday even exists.

Broken hearts affectmore than for those who are suffering through a recent break up. In fact, acondition called broken heart syndrome actually exists, the hospital’s AdvancedHeart Failure Center informs through the press release. Originally known as takosubocardiomyopathy, broken heart syndrome is relatively common.
People with thissyndrome often see their doctor for chest pains, believing they might be havinga heart attack. The chest pains, however, are not caused by clogged arteries;they are the result of severe emotional stress.
“Patients come in withsymptoms similar to a heart attack, but did not have the typical blockedarteries that we see with a heart attack,” said Kenneth Taylor, M.D., chief of Piedmont’sAdvanced Heart Failure Center. “However, their hearts did ‘balloon’ out andlook like a big, round ball, which is reminiscent of something the Japaneseused to catch octopi, which is takosubo, or ‘octopus pot.’”

Dr. Kenneth Taylor

Dr. Taylor says thatbroken heart syndrome is more common than most people realize, mostly seen inpost-menopausal women, or women ages 60 and older, who often have some sort ofstressful event in their life, regardless of whether it’s an emotional orphysical stressor.
“There is a lot ofdebate about what actually causes this syndrome and we still don’t really knowwhat causes it,” said Dr. Taylor. “Most people believe it is a ‘stunning’ ofthe heart from too much adrenaline.”
In a study publishedin the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that 71percent of the study’s participants had experienced an emotional or physicalstressor just 48 hours earlier. However, the study’s authors noted that it ispossible to experience this condition in the absence of a stressful event.
“What researchersfound was consistent with what we have seen in previous literature: the factthat there isn’t any heart muscle damage, and the fact that the majority ofpatients get better with very few having bad outcomes,” said Dr. Taylor.
“If you experiencesymptoms of a heart attack, you need to come to the hospital immediately and ifyour actual diagnosis is broken heart syndrome, then you have a very favorableprognosis,” said Dr. Taylor.
Symptoms of brokenheart syndrome include chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness and anirregular heartbeat. Potential triggers include abuse, death of a loved one, anupsetting medical diagnosis, financial difficulty, a surprise party, publicspeaking, a car accident, major surgery or an asthma attack.
For more informationabout the Advanced Heart Failure Center at Piedmont Atlanta, visit piedmontheart.org.