Emotional Shock & Broken Heart Syndrome
This has happened to me about three times in my life - but in March 2004 when I went to the E.R. with chest pain, vomitting and faintness - the doctors finally gave it a name. STRESS CARDIOMYOPATHY.
I am taking measures to see that this trauma is never visited on me again.
The sudden shock of losing a loved one can cause classic heart attack-like symptoms of a broken heart, doctors say.
Tragic events have been known to produce symptoms of chest pain, shortness of breath, and fluid in the lung, but no one knew why.
In a new study, researchers show stress cardiomyopathy, the "broken heart syndrome" triggered by sudden emotional shock, is real.
Unlike in a true heart attack in which the heart muscle is damaged permanently, those who suffer from the syndrome recover in two weeks or less after receiving fluids and bedrest.
In contrast, heart attack victims partially recover in weeks or months.
In the study, doctors at Johns Hopkins University used sophisticated tests to distinguish the syndrome from heart attacks – findings that should help physicians to tell the difference in emergency rooms.
Dr. Ilan Wittstein, a cardiologist and lead author of the study, found a surge in adrenaline and other stress hormones can reduce the heart's pumping capacity.
The study's authors theorize hormones may cause tiny vessels in the heart to contract, although they haven't found how it happens.
Grief trigger
Wittstein and his colleagues treated 19 emergency room patients with the syndrome between 1999 and 2003, who were compared to seven patients who suffered severe heart attacks.
The broken-hearted patients were all previously healthy and had few risk factors for heart disease.
In all cases, the syndrome patients had signs of apparent heart attack after receiving an unpleasant surprise, such as news of a sudden death of a husband, or falling victim to an armed robbery or car accident.
The investigators found one telltale sign of the syndrome was a unique contraction pattern on ultrasounds of the heart, as well as a distinctive display on EKG measurements of electrical activity.
The researchers plan to study whether some patients are vulnerable to the syndrome because of genetics.
SOURCE
I am taking measures to see that this trauma is never visited on me again.
The sudden shock of losing a loved one can cause classic heart attack-like symptoms of a broken heart, doctors say.
Tragic events have been known to produce symptoms of chest pain, shortness of breath, and fluid in the lung, but no one knew why.
In a new study, researchers show stress cardiomyopathy, the "broken heart syndrome" triggered by sudden emotional shock, is real.
Unlike in a true heart attack in which the heart muscle is damaged permanently, those who suffer from the syndrome recover in two weeks or less after receiving fluids and bedrest.
In contrast, heart attack victims partially recover in weeks or months.
In the study, doctors at Johns Hopkins University used sophisticated tests to distinguish the syndrome from heart attacks – findings that should help physicians to tell the difference in emergency rooms.
Dr. Ilan Wittstein, a cardiologist and lead author of the study, found a surge in adrenaline and other stress hormones can reduce the heart's pumping capacity.
The study's authors theorize hormones may cause tiny vessels in the heart to contract, although they haven't found how it happens.
Grief trigger
Wittstein and his colleagues treated 19 emergency room patients with the syndrome between 1999 and 2003, who were compared to seven patients who suffered severe heart attacks.
The broken-hearted patients were all previously healthy and had few risk factors for heart disease.
In all cases, the syndrome patients had signs of apparent heart attack after receiving an unpleasant surprise, such as news of a sudden death of a husband, or falling victim to an armed robbery or car accident.
The investigators found one telltale sign of the syndrome was a unique contraction pattern on ultrasounds of the heart, as well as a distinctive display on EKG measurements of electrical activity.
The researchers plan to study whether some patients are vulnerable to the syndrome because of genetics.
SOURCE
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