Can you suffer what seems like a heart attack, only to have it be identified later as broken heart syndrome (BHS)?
The answer is “yes.”
You may be surprised to learn BHS is for real, as reported by the American Heart Association under the official title of stress-induced cardiomyopathy. It has taken the place of the largely anecdotal “dying of a broken heart,” although people seldom die from BHS.
Research validates BHS
Recent research has raised BHS from what many in the medical community thought was pure coincidence, dying of a broken heart, to a legitimate health hazard.
“BHS is a reaction to a large surge of stress hormones caused by an emotionally stressful event,” said Kelly Rasmussen, a cardiology nurse practitioner. “It’s sometimes misdiagnosed as a heart attack because symptoms and test results are similar.”
A major difference is there is typically no evidence of blocked or narrowed arteries in BHS as there can be with a heart attack.
Most recover
While BHS can lead to severe short-term heart muscle failure, it is usually treatable. Most people who experience it make a full recovery within weeks and are at low risk of it happening again. Recovery time is usually within days or weeks, compared to a month or more for a heart attack.
Signs and symptoms of BHS are angina, or chest pain/pressure, and shortness of breath which typically occur after extreme emotional or physical stress. These symptoms, except stress, are also potential signs of a heart attack. You should seek medical care immediately if you experience them.
Rarely seen here
BHS is rare enough that Rasmussen has seen just two patients with it, both when she was working in a hospital setting years ago. These patients did not die. They underwent standard testing to rule out heart attacks or significant blockages, then were studied for previous health events and stressful situations and we “put the pieces together,” according to Rasmussen.
Medications usually are prescribed to help the heart muscle recover from changes that happened from the stress hormones.
So, bottom line? It’s a far cry from dying from a broken heart.
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Well I sincerely liked reading it. This information provided by you is very helpful Thank you.
If BHS is real we must also remember that all of our emotions, such as love, hate, joy and sadness originate in our brains not in our hearts, so instead of saying I love you with my whole heart, you should be saying I love you with my whole brain.
I went through a very stressful divorce several years ago and then lost my job due directly to the actions of my ex-husband.
I ended up hospitalized and while there appeared to be having a hear attack. They diagnosed it as Broken Heart Syndrome at that time. It did act just like a heart attach. Needless to say when I tell people about it they have never heard of such a thing. I can assure you this is real. You body can take just so much before it says enough is enough.
Does this include lightheadedness as if one might fall?
Great question, Donna. Kelly said people may have lightheadedness but it would be associated with other symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath or abnormal heart beating. Lightheadedness alone is not a typical symptom of “broken heart syndrome”. Thank you for reading. -Kirstie
ER doctors need to know this. Too much stress is bad for one's health. It can be treated. ER docs shouldn't just tell patients "You are fine, go home."