‘A shock to the core’: Broken heart syndrome is on the rise in the US, new study shows
More Americans are living with a broken heart, and that painful feeling now comes with a severe diagnosis, a new study shows.
A peer-reviewed study published by the Journal of the American Heart Association found that broken heart syndrome is on the rise in the U.S. It is also one of the only studies to show a clear connection on how the heart and the brain react together when things like anxiety or stress are present.
Takotsubo syndrome, also known as broken heart syndrome, can mirror a heart attack, causing chest pains and shortness of breath after the heart muscles weaken. It generally happens following a severe emotional or physical event, like a breakup, car accident or even a surprise birthday party, according to Dr. Susan Cheng, who led the study.
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“Men and women have different biology and susceptibility to diseases,” Cheng added. “Those differences get exaggerated over time and in this study, it seems to be applicable here also.”
While rare, severe cases of broken heart syndrome can lead to death, and Cheng says people have been in cardiac intensive care “for days, or weeks even, trying to recover from this.” She added that the response of stress triggers the syndrome and “we’re shocked to the core, it’s a shock to the system.”
Cheng says broken heart syndrome is not yet well understood. The most organized and comprehensive data available is on the National Inpatient Sample database.
While the data is exclusively pre-pandemic data, Cheng says there is data after 2017. However, it takes a couple of years to collect it all, get it organized and ready to analyze. She anticipates there will be a lower rate of diagnosis because most people during the pandemic are doing “everything they can to avoid having to go to the hospital.”
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