THE LOVELORN talk of death from a broken heart – and now it seems they weren’t exaggerating.
Severe emotional stress can trigger acute heart failure. The body does not do this to halt the misery but rather to protect the patient.
Researchers from Imperial College London, who were studying Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, found that those who get it as a result of a bereavement or other emotional shock have symptoms very like those of a heart attack.
One to 2 per cent of people initially suspected of having a heart attack are subsequently found to have this syndrome, said the researchers, who published their findings yesterday in the journal Circulation.
They believe the temporary heart failure protects the heart against the toxic effects of too much adrenaline. This powerful hormone is produced in high-stress situations including fear and emotional shock. It makes the heart race, throwing extra oxygen into the body to make it ready for “flight or fight”.
But sometimes there is just too much of it and that can damage the heart muscle, the researchers said. This is when broken-heart syndrome kicks in, to prevent permanent damage.
“This seems to protect the heart from being overstimulated,” said Prof Sian Harding from the UK National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College.
It might feel like a heart attack but the effects are readily treated and things get back to normal once the adrenaline goes away.
The syndrome is most common in older women. The heart takes on a balloon-like shape because it is not pumping properly. The same happens in people injected with adrenaline to treat severe allergic reactions.
