Recently, the scientists published a study in the Journal of the American Heart Association about a stress-related heart condition called 'broken heart syndrome', which is also known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
"Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a serious condition with a substantial risk of death and severe complications," said study author Dr. Mohammad Reza Movahed, an interventional cardiologist and clinical professor of medicine at the University of Arizona's Sarver Heart Center.
"If you have this stressful trigger, and the stress is not gone, that's probably going to continue to harm the heart, or at least reduce the chance of recovery."
The study looked at nearly 200,000 U.S. adults hospitalized with this condition between 2016 and 2020. Even though broken heart syndrome is more common among women than men, researchers found that about 11 percent of men died from it compared to about 5 percent of women.
Doctors believe that the causes might be different in men, the condition is usually triggered by a physical stress, such as surgery or a stroke, while in women, it is often caused by emotional stress like losing a job or a loved one.
Over the five-year study, complications included issues like the heart not pumping well (cardiogenic shock), irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation), heart failure, cardiac arrest, and stroke.
"We have not found anything so far — any medication, any specific treatment — that can reduce complications or reduce mortality," Movahed noted.
The author called the high death rates "alarming" and emphasized the need for more research to find better treatments.
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