JAKARTA - After experiencing traumatic events such as divorce or loss of a loved one, some people can feel chest pain and shortness of breath. This condition is known as popular 'broken heart syndrome' or broken heart syndrome.
Medically, this syndrome is called takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Doctors believe this syndrome is triggered by physical or emotional stress that causes a spike in stress hormones such as adrenaline, so that the heart cannot contract normally. Most patients can recover quickly, but in certain cases, this condition can cause heart failure.
Although more common in women, the latest study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association shows men are twice as at risk of dying from this syndrome as women do.
The study analyzed data on nearly 200 thousand adults in the US who were hospitalized due to liver syndrome from 2016 to 2020. About 11% of men in the group died, compared to women only about 5%. These results reinforce previous findings that the death rate from this syndrome is indeed higher in men.
"It looks like this is a consistent finding, men are less likely to be exposed to autotsubo, but when they experience it, the impact is much worse," said Dr. Harmony Reynolds, Director of Women's Cardiovascular Research Center Sarah Ross Soter at NYU Langone Health who was not involved in the study, quoted from the NBC News page.
Cardiologists suspect that differences in the causes of stress in men and women can be one of the main factors. In men, broken heart syndrome is generally triggered by physical stress such as postoperation or after stroke. Whereas in women, the trigger is more frequent in the form of emotional stress, such as job loss or loved ones.
"Patients triggered by emotional stress generally experience better recovery," said Dr. Ilan Wittstein, a cardiologist from Johns Hopkins Medicine, who was also not involved in the study.
Men may be more vulnerable to fatal results because they are not easily exposed to this syndrome, so a much more dangerous trigger is needed to make it happen," he added.
The study's lead author, Dr. Mohammad Movahed, added that men tend to have minimal social support. This can complicate the recovery process from this syndrome.
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"If the stress trigger doesn't disappear immediately, then it can continue to burden the heart and inhibit the healing process," said Movahed, a cardiologist from the Sarver Heart Center, University of Arizona.
However, scientists do not yet fully understand the exact cause of this syndrome or why it could lead to death in certain cases.
To diagnose broken heart syndrome, doctors tell its characteristics, namely that some of the patient's heart muscles appear to bubble like balloons, but there is no blockage of arteries, which usually appears in heart attacks. Most patients can also remember stressful events before symptoms appear.
Stress that we experience every day, both physically and emotionally, can have a real impact," said Dr. Matthew Tomeyahli cardiac at Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, New York.
"Sometimes we can really feel hurt, and it turns out that it can be that it's not just feelings," he added.
According to Wittstein, stress alone is not necessarily a trigger.
"There are patients who just feel annoyed at work, or are too enthusiastic about jogging, or just annoyed because they are caught in a red light," he said.
Dr. Reynolds tells of one of his patients who has this syndrome four times and is all triggered by mild digestive disorders that cause vomiting.
"He really hates vomiting. So every time he vomits, he can get takotsubo," he said.
Cardiologists say the mystery around this syndrome makes it difficult to prevent or treat effectively. Sometimes doctors give heart drugs such as beta blockers or advise patients to manage stress through meditation and consultation with mental health professionals.
"Until now there has been no specific medicine or treatment that can really reduce complications or the death rate," said Movahed.
His new study also found that the death rate from this syndrome was relatively stable from 2016 to 2020, an indication that the current treatment was not quite effective.
But Wittstein warned that the study only uses a hospital diagnosis code, which may not reflect the cause of death as a whole, especially if the patient also has a stroke or other neurological disorder.
"I'm pretty sure there are patients who actually have recovered from broken heart syndrome, but then died from other complications," he explained.
The best advice from doctors is not to ignore chest pain or shortness of breath, even though we feel it is only due to stress.
"We can't tell the difference between broken heart syndrome and ordinary heart attacks just from the symptoms," Reynolds said.
"So, it is highly not recommended to stay at home when experiencing chest pain", he continued.
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