Broken heart syndrome

Broken heart syndrome and baby boomers could sound odd but in fact it is a reality that affects predominantly baby boomer women and has nothing to do with St. Valentine’s Day.

What am I talking about?

In the last 2-3 years investigators have started paying close attention to a newly described syndrome called "stress cardiomyopathy". In fact, the syndrome was first described many years ago in Japan but was little known in the rest of the world.

In most cases middle age women who happen to experience acute emotional stress like news of death of a loved one or armed assault developed symptoms suggesting a heart attack.

This is very important because women complain from a shortness of breath, chest pain and a sense of impending doom. All three complaints are typical for a heart attack.

The tricky part is that tests like ECGs and cardiac enzyme tests are normal along with a normal catheterization (the coronary arteries are fine). And finally, to make things even more puzzling, the heart muscle becomes weak and "balloons" outward in the area of the left ventricle apex, hence the name.

If given appropriate intensive cardiac care, the patients survive and their long term prognosis is good. The symptoms of the "broken heart" (the cardiomyopathy) disappear after a short period.

It is important to know the connection between broken heart syndrome and acute stress. The onset of this syndrome is sudden, usually in previously healthy women after experiencing acute stress.

Although the cause of broken heart syndrome is unknown, it could be related to an unusual response to the release of stress hormones (such as adrenaline) after sudden emotional stress. It is a subject of further evaluation to understand the underlying mechanism of this peculiar syndrome.

What is important for baby boomers (and baby boomer women in particular) is to become aware of this stress related and potentially deadly broken heart syndrome that can literally break your heart.

Read about baby boomers stress and how to prevent stress from overwhelming your heart.

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