‘Broken heart syndrome’ can cause long-lasting damage to health, study reveals
Back to Topic
Click to Print
Useful Websites
Glossary Term Selection
Symptoms are similar to a heart attack.
By Brogan Driscoll, Lifestyle Editor
‘Broken heart syndrome’ – which can be triggered by severe emotional distress, such as the death of a loved one – may leave longer lasting damage than previously thought, experts have revealed.
Around 3,000 people per year in the UK suffer from the condition, also known as Takotsubo syndrome, according to the Press Association.
Symptoms are similar to a heart attack and the condition, which mostly affects women, is usually diagnosed in hospital.
Until now, it was thought the heart fully recovered from the syndrome, but new research suggests the muscle actually suffers long-term damage.
This could explain why people with the syndrome only tend to have the same life expectancy as those who suffer a heart attack.
The research, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), was published in the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography.
A team from the University of Aberdeen followed 52 Takotsubo patie...
Want to see the rest of this article?
Would you like to see the rest of this article and all the other benefits that Issues Online can provide with?
- Useful related articles
- Video and multimedia references
- Statistical information and reference material
- Glossary of terms
- Key Facts and figures
- Related assignments
- Resource material and websites
