We’ve all had our hearts broken and let’s face it, it’s never fun.  But did you know that it can kill?

Stress cardiomyopathy, or “Broken Heart Syndrome” is a condition in which severe heart muscle weakness is caused by intense emotional (e.g. ended relationships, death of a loved one, extreme anger, surprise, etc.) or physical stress (e.g. seizure, stroke, asthma attack, etc.). The symptoms of stress cardiomyopathy are almost identical to that of a heart attack: shortness of breath, chest pains, low blood pressure and even congestive heart failure can occur.  The biggest difference between the two is the cause.  Heart attacks are most often brought on by some sort of blockage, whereas stress cardiomyopathy is the actual weakening of the muscle.

 

The good news is that in most cases people recover very quickly from Broken Heart Syndrome, and it is rarely life threatening.