What is broken heart syndrome? Here’s how it can affect you

Takotsubo syndrome, also known as broken heart syndrome or stress cardiomyopathy, was initially identified in Japan in 1990, as per NIH. Stress causes the heart to grow in a way that makes it unable to pump blood regularly, which can cause symptoms like weariness, lightheadedness, chills, and breathlessness that resemble a heart attack.

According to recent Google search data, heartbreak can lead to this syndrome, which has resulted in an increase in searches of more than 5,000% over the past 30 days.

This syndrome is a cardiac ailment that is frequently triggered by stressful circumstances and strong emotions, according to the Mayo Clinic. According to their website, people who have broken heart syndrome may have unexpected chest pain or believe they are experiencing a heart attack.

Only a portion of the heart is impacted by this syndrome. It causes a momentary pause in the heart's blood-pumping action. The remainder of the heart keeps beating normally.

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What are the symptoms of broken heart syndrome?

Heartbreaks can cause real stress. (Image via Pexels)

Health sector advisers at Compare the Market conducted a nationwide poll asking people to share their most memorable sadness in an effort to increase awareness of the negative impacts of heartbreak on both physical and mental health.

Broken heart syndrome is often transient, according to the Mayo Clinic. They do acknowledge that some people can experience ongoing symptoms even after their hearts are repaired. A heartbreak typically takes an average American nine months to heal from, according to a poll conducted by Compare the Market.

According to the study, heartbreak has the greatest psychological and social effects; 15% of respondents reported mental health problems and 30% said that their sadness had caused them to experience increased stress. In the eyes of the respondents, the following are the main ways that heartbreak impacts daily life:

• sleeping excessively or insufficiently (35%)
• Social isolation from friends and family (33%)
• Feelings of suspicion towards others (33%)

WRAL reported that according to UNC Rex cardiologist Dr. Christopher Kelly, broken heart syndrome can occasionally get severe enough to necessitate ICU admission. It may potentially result in death in certain situations.

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How common is broken heart syndrome?

Heartbreaks can have mental toll. (Image via Unsplash)

As per Cleveland Clinic, about 2% of patients who see a provider for a suspected heart attack have this syndrome. Nevertheless, because medical professionals frequently fail to diagnose the illness, researchers think the real number of cases is higher.

People assigned female at birth (AFAB), who account for around 89% of recorded cases, are most affected by takotsubo cardiomyopathy. After menopause (mean age range of 58 to 77), this is most prone to occur.

One can mistakenly believe you're suffering a heart attack because broken heart syndrome has many symptoms with that condition. Breathlessness and chest discomfort are symptoms of both disorders. However, one usually doesn't have permanent heart damage when they have this syndrome since they don't have blocked coronary arteries.