Broken heart syndrome is a real diagnosis

Can a person really die of a broken heart? If they suffer from broken-heart syndrome then perhaps, yes.

The Telegraph reported that 93-year-old Betty Munroe’s health worsened after a burglary at her home.

She began to experience sickness, shaking and nightmares. Soon after, she was diagnosed with broken-heart syndrome she died in hospital.

Known scientifically as stress cardiomyopathy, takotsubo cardiomyopathy or apical ballooning syndrome, this is a condition in which severe physical or emotional stress can result in severe muscle weakness, or cardiomyopathy.

According to Mayo Clinic’s website, it is believed a surge of stress hormones such as adrenalin, often released after an event causing intense physical or emotional stress, can temporarily damage hearts.

Barbara Kobson, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Researchers are trying to understand the interaction between the heart muscle and emotional signals in the brain.

“One theory is that exposure to an emotionally traumatic event causes a surge of adrenalin at levels that are harmful to the heart.”

Kobson says this may trigger the immune system, resulting in acute heart-muscle inflammation. In the process, the heart’s primary pumping chamber weakens and cannot pump blood efficiently.

In the case of Munroe, the trauma she experienced as a result of the burglary was enough to cause the onset of broken heart syndrome.

For other people, it can be the loss of a loved one, emotional stress from a divorce or job loss, receiving bad news such as a terminal medical diagnosis or even physical stressors such as a car accident or major surgery — the list is not bound to one cause.

While the number of causes may be vast, symptoms are similar to those of a heart attack, and may include dizziness, chest pains, sweating, nausea, vomiting, weakness and shortness of breath.

Broken heart syndrome can be fatal, but for those who survive the prognosis appears to be good: the heart will return to normal after a few weeks with no permanent damage. Time, it seems, truly does heal all wounds.