You Can Actually Die from a Broken Heart! Here’s How

How can you mend a broken heart? In 2016, the world lost two of the greatest artists on film, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. It was Carrie Fisher who passed away first at the age of 60 and fans all over the world could not believe the shocking news of the death of everyone’s favourite Princess. In a shocking twist of fate, a day later, Fisher’s mother, Debbie Reynolds succumbed to an unknown cause and passed away at the age of 84. Many of us could not dismiss the coincidence of just how close together their deaths were and many of us have supposed that it was the loss of her daughter and a broken heart that finally took the life of Debbie Reynolds. Dying of a broken heart may sound too poetic but it is a condition that is not entirely rare – or bizarre. Called Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy – after being first discovered in Japan – the condition mimics aspects of a heart-attack except that no major arteries are clogged of clotted. What happens is that, due to extreme stress or shock, the heart begins to malform and turn into a pot-like shape similar to that of a pot used by Japanese fishermen to capture octopi, a Tako tsubo. This malformation constricts the blood-flow because of the combined influence of stress hormones and a stunned muscle. In the case of Debbie Reynolds’ death, we can only theorise that she passed away due to emotional stress after her daughter’s death. According to Dr Sunil Shah of St Geroge’s at the University of London, “We often use the term a ‘broken heart’ to signify the pain of losing a loved-one and our study shows that bereavement can have a direct effect on the health of the heart.” This was further elaborated on by the British Heart Foundations saying that, “About three quarters of people diagnosed with takotsubo cardiomyopathy have experienced significant emotional or physical stress prior to becoming unwell.” SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS While a heart attack and takotsubo cardiomyopathy do feel like they are the same versions of a cardiac arrest, they are not the same disease. Because the most common symptom of a broken heart is shortness of breath and chest pains, or angia, it can easily be mistaken for a heart attack. Arythmia, or irregular heartbeats also contribute to a broken heart. However, a “broken heart” cardiomyopathy’s symptoms only happen when the body experiences extreme and sudden emotional or physical stress unlike a heart-attack which is caused by clotting and clogging that has built up overtime. Also, to distinguish it further from a heart-attack, a broken heart has no physical damage and patients easily recover right after – usually within a day or a few days - without any long-term negative effects on their bodies. People who have suffered heart attacks need at least a month to fully recover. While death is uncommon in people who experience broken heart cardiomyopathy, it can still be fatal to people who are experiencing severe depression or anxiety. Moreover, the elderly are more at risk of death from a broken heart mainly because of weakened muscles due to age. While there true cause of this cardiomyopathy is still unknown, it would seem that the “stress-based” theory holds a little more water than the rest since, even in people who are fit physically, mentally, and emotionally, the body still reacts negatively when it is exposed to stress and when hormones are released. “Broken heart syndrome –which is, in fact a real thing,” according to Dr Matthew Lorber, a psychiatrist at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital, “is when someone finds out some shocking news, typically terrible news, and there’s a massive release of these stress hormones that are released into the bloodstream, and the heart is then bombarded with these stress hormones.” Lorber further elaborates that the news could be anything from getting fired from work or receiving divorce papers. Furthermore, good news can also contribute to stress especially when it is delivered in a sudden and shocking way that will cause the body to release these hormones. “Anything that causes a shock or startles can cause broken heart syndrome,” Lorber explains. PATIENTS While anyone can experience broken heart cardiomyopathy – or broken heart syndrome – a study reveals that it is more commonly experienced by women. Also, individuals with neurologic problems such as seizures are also prone to cardiomyopathy. And, as mentioned earlier, broken heart syndrome, is much more fatal to the elderly due to their weakened physiology. In cases where a weak heart cannot manage the changes brought about by stress, Lorber says that it “can lead to fluid actually getting into the lungs. It could lead to dangerous changes in blood pressure. It can even lead to heart attack, which can lead to death.” Even more to the point, Dr Paul Wright, chairman of Neurology at North Shore University Hospital in New York and the Long Island Jewish Medical Center, also in New York, explains that the cardiac arythmias brought about by broken heart syndrome may also lead to a stroke. He says, “We know that stress can induce cardiac arythmias – irregular rhythms in the heart – that can cause clots to be formed and thus produce large strokes.” The loss of a loved one or the end of a relationship may be painful for us to experience. To some of us, the heavy, emotional weight it brings is quite unbearable and it, quite literally, slowly breaks our hearts that all we could wish for is to end it all. It does happen in some cases but having to die of a broken heart it rare but it is the rare occurrences that make this medical mystery a lot more intriguing, if not poetic. In the case of Debbie Reynolds after Carrie Fisher’s death, it was, indeed, a broken heart that answered her call.