Hearts Actually Can Break

Wallstreet Journal ^ | Feb. 9, 2010 | Ron Wislow

[StilettoRaksha]

Dorothy Lee and her husband of 40 years were driving home from a Bible study group one wintry night when their car suddenly hit the curb. Mrs. Lee looked at her husband, who was driving, and saw his head bob a couple of times and fall on his chest.

In the ensuing minutes, Mrs. Lee recalls, she managed to avoid a crash while stopping the car, called 911 on her cellphone and tried to revive her husband before an ambulance arrived. But at the hospital, soon after learning her husband had died of a heart attack, Mrs. Lee's heart appeared to give out as well. She experienced sudden sharp pains in her chest, felt faint and went unconscious.

New research shows that dying of a broken heart isn't just a metaphor. WSJ's Ron Winslow talks with Simon Constable about studies that show real, and sometimes fatal, changes can occur in the heart after a traumatic breakup or death of a loved one. Related Health Video

When doctors performed an X-ray angiogram expecting to find and treat a blood clot that had caused Mrs. Lee's symptoms, they were surprised: There wasn't any evidence of a heart attack. Her coronary arteries were completely clear.

Doctors eventually determined that Mrs. Lee had suffered from broken-heart syndrome, a name given by doctors who observed that it seemed to especially affect patients who had recently lost a spouse or other family member. The mysterious malady mimics heart attacks, but appears to have little connection with coronary artery disease. Instead, it is typically triggered by acute emotion or physical trauma that releases a surge of adrenaline that overwhelms the heart. The effect is to freeze much of the left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber, disrupting its ability to contract and effectively pump blood.

[exnavy]

RIP Mr. and Mrs. Lee.

[Yossarian]

RIP Mr. Lee... but happily, Mrs. Lee survived.

[GOP Poet]

bookmark

[StilettoRaksha]

Achy Breaky Heart

Broken-heart syndrome mimics a heart attack and is brought on by acute emotion or physical trauma. Here are some triggers that doctors say prompted patients to suffer the malady.

Emotional stressors:

* Death of a spouse
* Patient’s dog caught in a raccoon trap
* Losing large amount of money in a casino
* Getting lost while driving in an unsafe neighborhood at night
* Feeling overwhelmed by new computer software

Physical stressors:

* Migraine headache
* Knee surgery
* Low blood sugar
* Adverse drug reaction
* Respiratory distress

[cripplecreek]

Emotional loss can be extremely stressful

[buschbaby]

"* Patient’s dog caught in a raccoon trap"

LMAO this has me giggling. Unless it was a lethal trap, I cannot image the weakling this would cause such stress to. Would love to know the whole story.

[marvlus]

but happily, Mrs. Lee survived.

dying of a broken heart is not what I would call surviving.

[A_perfect_lady]

If you read the story, she didn’t die. They treated her with a heart pump of some sort and today she runs a clothing store, and says she worked through her grief emotionally and spiritually.