Broken Heart Syndrome was thought to be a short-term condition – the latest evidence suggests otherwise

A stressful event, such as the death of a loved one, can really break your heart. In medicine, the disease is known as broken heart syndrome or takotsubo syndrome. It is characterized by a temporary disruption of the normal pumping function of the heart, which increases the risk of death. This is the reason why many older couples die soon after.

Broken heart syndrome has the same symptoms as a heart attack, including chest pain and difficulty breathing. During an attack that can be triggered by grief, divorce, surgery or other stressful event, the heart muscle weakens to the point that it can no longer pump blood efficiently.

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In about one in ten cases, people with broken heart syndrome develop a condition called cardiogenic shock where the heart can not pump enough blood to meet the needs of the body. Death can result.

Physical Damage

It has long been thought that, in contrast to a heart attack, the lesions caused by the broken heart syndrome were temporary and lasted for days or weeks, but recent research suggests that this may be the case. is not the case.

A study by researchers at the University of Aberdeen provided the first evidence that broken heart syndrome resulted in permanent physiological changes to the heart. The researchers followed 52 patients with this condition for four months, using ultrasound and cardiac imaging to closely examine the functioning of their heart. They discovered that the disease permanently affected the pumping movement of the heart. They also found that some parts of the heart muscle were replaced by thin scars, which reduced the elasticity of the heart and prevented it from contracting properly.

In a recent follow-up study, the same research team reported that people with a broken heart syndrome had impaired cardiac function and reduced exercise capacity, resembling heart failure. , for more than 12 months after leaving the hospital.

Long-term risk

A new study of the disease, published in Circulation, now shows that the risk of death remains high for many years after the initial crisis.

In this study, Swiss researchers compared 198 patients with broken heart syndrome who developed cardiogenic shock with 1,880 patients who did not have cardiogenic shock. They found that patients with cardiogenic shock were more likely to have the syndrome triggered by physical stress, such as a surgery or an asthma attack, and that they were also far more likely to have died five years after the initial event.

risk factors for major heart disease, such as diabetes and smoking, were also much more likely to experience cardiogenic shock, as were people with atrial fibrillation (a type of cardiac arrhythmia).

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A second study done in Spain found similar results among 711 people with broken heart syndrome, 11% who developed cardiogenic shock.Over a year, cardiogenic shock was the leading death factor in this group of patients. 19659019] These studies show that cardiogenic shock is not an unusual risk factor in patients with a broken heart syndrome and that it is a potent death factor. </ P> <p> in light of a disease that was previously thought to be less serious than before.

The evidence clearly shows that & ##. 39, it is not a temporary illness, nor is there a pressing need for more effective new treatments and close monitoring of people. with this condition.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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