Can you die from a broken heart, really?
Source:When someone loses a loved one or going through a terrible loss, people say that his heart is broken. But we tend to think that it is a figure of speech, which is usually used to describe the mental pain associated with the loss of a loved one. Can a broken heart be manifested in physical symptoms? It turns out, Yes. Moreover, in rare cases, it can become life-threatening.
Last December Debbie Reynolds died only a few days after her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher, died suddenly of a heart attack. According to The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers may have found another case in Texas: a study published this week, described a woman with pain in the heart, which could be caused by the loss of her beloved pet.
This phenomenon is not fully understood. But the potential cases arise often enough to have a name: Takotsubo syndrome, or cardiomyopathy Takotsubo. From Japanese it means "octopus trap". The name reflects the path of development problems. Classic heart attack forms a clot (usually from plaque) in blood vessels. It interferes with the blood flow that carries vital oxygen to the heart. But in the case of the syndrome Takotsubo powerful heart attack occurs without any identifiable clot.
Takotsubo Symptoms mimic heart attack. The patient often complains of shortness of breath, he has dangerously increased blood pressure and chest pain. But instead of the clot is to blame a weakened heart muscle. Clinical reports and studies of the syndrome Takotsubo show that the condition almost always occurs in people who have experienced serious injury or extreme emotional distress — lost loved one, especially a spouse or child.
The Cause of the syndrome is probably associated with the hormonal response to extreme stress, according to the study, published in the aforementioned magazine in 2005. When someone is exposed to a particularly traumatic event, the body often releases a flood of stress hormones into the bloodstream. Stress hormones themselves can cause weakening of the muscles in the heart. If you look at the heart, it is as if tightly compressed in the lower part and the upper slightly inflated. Approximately behave octopus caught in a trap.
Although Takotsubo syndrome can affect people at any age, it is rarely fatal. In most cases, the person recovers within a few weeks. But in certain situations can result in death. Last year in The New York Times has a report that said that because Takotsubo syndrome mainly affects women and is usually fatal in older women — the doctors believe that estrogen may play a protective role for blood vessels of the heart. As estrogen levels decline with age, the elderly women fall in the high risk of death.
So Yes, in some cases, "broken heart" can be not just a popular expression. This can be a natural end for a person.
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