Broken Heart Proven to Be Serious Health Risk
Danielle Holton Staff Reporter
Issue date: 10/20/05 Section: News
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A study conducted by doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital showed that a broken heart has similar side effects to a massive heart attack. Officially named stress cardiomyopathy, the condition has been dubbed the "broken heart syndrome."
Cardiologist and lead study author, Ilan Wittstein, M.D., began this study after caring for three patients who had been admitted to the intensive care unit with the appearance of having a heart attack.
Continuing their care, Wittstein discovered they had all been through a traumatic experience directly prior to their admittance.
"It was after seeing these patients that we began looking for this problem, that's how the study was generated," said Wittstein, "trying to explain things we were seeing that had not been explained before in the medical literature."
Patients with cardiomyopathy experience signs of a heart attack and are often misdiagnosed as having a massive heart attack.
"Although no one has counted cases," said Sidney Smith, cardiologist at the University of North Carolina to USA Today, "broken heart syndrome ultimately will account for a fraction of the seven million heart attacks that occur in the USA each year."
People who suffer from any stressful situation release catecholamines (adrenalin and noradrenalin). Patients diagnosed with cardiomyopathy have suffered a days worth of an adrenaline surge along with other chemicals that temporarily stun the heart.
These chemicals can be temporarily toxic to the heart. The study collected 19 cases, mostly women middle-aged or older who were suffering from a traumatic experience and a seemingly painful heart attack.
Tests were run on patients to search for blood clots or a blockage; this usually causes the presumed heart attack.
The results of the 19 cases were compared to a group of seven patients who had suffered classic severe heart attacks.
The team found that initial levels of catecholamines in the "broken hearted" patients were seven to 34 times the normal levels and two to three times higher among the patients with the heart attacks.
Cardiologist and lead study author, Ilan Wittstein, M.D., began this study after caring for three patients who had been admitted to the intensive care unit with the appearance of having a heart attack.
Continuing their care, Wittstein discovered they had all been through a traumatic experience directly prior to their admittance.
"It was after seeing these patients that we began looking for this problem, that's how the study was generated," said Wittstein, "trying to explain things we were seeing that had not been explained before in the medical literature."
Patients with cardiomyopathy experience signs of a heart attack and are often misdiagnosed as having a massive heart attack.
"Although no one has counted cases," said Sidney Smith, cardiologist at the University of North Carolina to USA Today, "broken heart syndrome ultimately will account for a fraction of the seven million heart attacks that occur in the USA each year."
People who suffer from any stressful situation release catecholamines (adrenalin and noradrenalin). Patients diagnosed with cardiomyopathy have suffered a days worth of an adrenaline surge along with other chemicals that temporarily stun the heart.
These chemicals can be temporarily toxic to the heart. The study collected 19 cases, mostly women middle-aged or older who were suffering from a traumatic experience and a seemingly painful heart attack.
Tests were run on patients to search for blood clots or a blockage; this usually causes the presumed heart attack.
The results of the 19 cases were compared to a group of seven patients who had suffered classic severe heart attacks.
The team found that initial levels of catecholamines in the "broken hearted" patients were seven to 34 times the normal levels and two to three times higher among the patients with the heart attacks.