2 minute read
Dr Ben Anderson
Broken Heart Syndrome
IT SOUNDS MELODRAMATIC, BUT IT’S REAL. RECENT RESEARCH INDICATES THAT TAKOTSUBO SYNDROME, ALSO KNOWN AS “BROKEN HEART SYNDROME”, THE RARE HEART-BRAIN DISORDER, IS INCREASING IN MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER WOMEN.
Advertisement
DR BEN ANDERSON
Named for the Japanese octopustrapping pot that the heart resembles, Takotsubo syndrome occurs when the heart muscle is weakened, usually following severe emotional or physical stress when an outpouring of adrenaline creates a transiently “shocked” state characterised by markedly abnormal contractions in a section of left ventricle and by heart failure.
Though the muscle weakness is temporary, up to 10 percent of patients will experience another attack within five years. No one is sure what triggers stress cardiomyopathy, but experts are certain that it’s on the rise.
The condition is often triggered by stress or loss and can lead to longterm heart injury and impaired heart function. Researchers from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai in the US have discovered two alarming trends in Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA), suggests middle-aged and older women are being diagnosed with broken heart syndrome up to 10 times more often than younger women or men of any age.
The research also suggests that the rare condition has become more common, and the incidence has been rising steadily since well before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Incidence of the disease has grown from less than 2 percent to 7.8 percent during the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a Cleveland Clinic study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, as women report being extremely stressed by the pandemic and its impact on health, job security and the disruption of normal activities.
This study further validates the vital role the heart-brain connection plays in overall health, especially for women.
The research team used American hospital data collected from more than 135,000 women and men who were diagnosed with Takotsubo syndrome between 2006 and 2017. While confirming that women are diagnosed more frequently than men, the results also revealed that diagnoses have been increasing at least six to 10 times more rapidly for women ages 50 to 74 than for any other demographic.
Prior to this study, researchers only knew that women are more prone than men to developing Takotsubo syndrome. This latest study is the first to ask whether there are age-based sex differences and if case rates may be changing over time.
The Brain and Heart Connection
We’ve known for decades that smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes account for most cardiovascular problems. But it wasn’t until publication of the Interheart study in 2004 (25,000 volunteers spanning 52 countries) that emotional stress was identified as another key risk factor, accounting for about one-third of heart attacks and strokes.
The way the brain and nervous system respond to different types of stressors is something that changes as women age. Women around middle age are at especially affected, and the risk seems to be increasing. Researchers intend to research the longer-term implications of a Takotsubo diagnosis, molecular markers of risk and the factors that may be contributing to rising case rates.
Although medical professionals understand that mental stress accelerates cardiovascular disease by promoting inflammation, oxidative stress, and abnormal function of the endothelium, the protective inner lining of our blood vessels, there is still a lot to discover.
A healthy lifestyle, balanced diet, exercise and relaxation practices can go a long way to ensuring heart health into middle and older age.
VMO Pindara and John Flynn Private Hospitals, The Tweed Hospital and consulting at Goonellabah Medical Centre.
