Broken Heart Syndrome: Common Cardiomyopathy In Women

Yes, there is a disease called ‘broken heart syndrome’. It is not a poetic term at all. It is a type of cardiomyopathy that, according to doctors, affects almost exclusively women.

It is also known as ‘Takotsubo cardiomyopathy’. It is caused mainly by stress and also has symptoms that you should not miss.

If you are a person used to having many responsibilities and going through periods of great stress and anxiety, it is convenient for you to know more about this syndrome.

What is broken heart syndrome?

We must clarify, first of all, that despite being a “heart failure”, its consequences are not as serious as those of a myocardial infarction. 

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a disease for which all the data are not yet known. It was described for the first time in the 1990s, in Japan, and it is so called because of this type of cardiomyopathy.

The heart is deformed in a way very similar to the pots that Japanese fishermen use to hunt octopus. Curious, right? When this happens, a very characteristic pain and type of suffocation is felt.

Causes and biochemical impact

Being disappointed or losing a loved one are common causes of this syndrome. In this sense, negative emotions such as sadness, suffering or living with chronic stress  cause the left ventricle of the heart to deform slightly, which causes a narrowing of the coronary arteries.

According to medical studies, almost 90% of patients are women who have suffered episodes of very high stress.  And since stress can produce various changes in the body, it can even affect the metabolism.

• Large doses of catecholamines are released, and when they reach very high levels, they are directly toxic to the heart.
• Stress, anxiety and situations of emotional shock mean that, at any given moment, we can also suffer an adrenaline rush. What we will feel is that we are short of breath and that we are drowning.

It is congestive heart failure, which can be easily detected on an electrocardiogram  and is very similar to an acute myocardial infarction, but with less serious consequences.

Symptoms of broken heart syndrome

Symptoms can appear suddenly, especially after a great emotional shock. The first thing we will feel is a very strong pain in the chest, a kind of burning that prevents us from breathing normally.

Cold sweat and pain in the left arm are also very characteristic. They are symptoms very similar to a normal myocardial infarction, given the elevation of catecholamines and adrenaline.

Also watch for the following symptoms

There are symptoms that give us clues that our heart is pumping harder than it should. Try to monitor the following:

• Back pain. 
• Jaw pain
• Unjustified tiredness.
• Feeling of shortness of breath when climbing a ladder or doing other daily activities.
• You should take into account if, often, you feel sleepy in the afternoon, if your legs swell, as well as the manifestation of other discomforts.

Why does it affect women more?

The data should already alert us. Why does this type of cardiomyopathy mostly affect women? Experts tell us that women are the ones who suffer the most from the effects of stress.

Men, for their part, experience it to a lesser extent but, beware, they manage it worse. Hence, they are more likely to have a heart attack and die from it.

We somatize stress in the form of headaches, musculoskeletal problems, or small heart injuries, such as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. However, we have better strategies than men to cope with situations of anxiety and stress. 

Our communication skills are better. We can put our thoughts, feelings, and problems into words. Talking to someone relieves us and we do it more easily than men.

We are more sensitive, more intuitive. This means that, faced with a problem, we have the ability to face it from many more points of view. Now, to achieve this, you need to have will, optimism, openness and motivation.

The mortality rate is usually quite low, 5%. Still, it is still a heart problem that we must be aware of.

recommendations

Manage your day-to-day problems and never accumulate them. Women sometimes have many responsibilities: work, children, dependents, and so on.

We barely have time to ourselves, and it drowns us out and makes us a little unhappy. Try to make small changes in your life and convince yourself that you deserve to be happy. Take care of yourself a little more!