How drug can mend a broken heart

WHETHER it be the blow of a break-up, a loved one’s death, a violent assault or job loss, you can be seriously injured, and even die, of a broken heart.

But Victorian researchers have uncovered a way to prevent and even reverse damage caused by broken-heart syndrome.

Older women almost exclusively suffer Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart’s main pumping chamber in response to traumatic events.

Monash University scientists have used a drug on the market to treat cancer, and previously shown to improve heart and lung function, to protect against and undo cardiac scarring.

Lead researcher Sam ElOsta said the condition’s symptoms mimicked a heart attack, and it was believed 8 per cent of women who had a heart attack actually had a broken heart.

“Broken heart is more than just folklore. We’ve all heard that you can die of a broken heart, and the reality is that it’s true,” Professor El-Osta said.

“We think that stress and profound sadness can give rise of a flood of hormones into the heart, specifically cortisol, that weakens the left ventricle and causes that heavy achy feeling you get in your chest.

“An individual with those sudden intense chest pains and shortness of breath would firstly think they are having a heart attack, because it feels as though you heart is actually breaking.

“You can be very healthy, and still suffer a broken heart. “

The team tested a drug called SAHA, or Sub era nil oh y dr ox ami c acid, in mice. It has emerged as a promising treatment for a broad range of cancers, and works by protecting important gene functions that can be hijacked by cancer cells — or by an overwhelmed and stressed heart.