Broken heart syndrome

On Valentine's Day, people who have been unlucky in love will be said to suffer from a "broken heart." It turns out that a broken heart is an actual medical condition. Broken heart syndrome occurs during highly stressful or emotional times, such as a painful breakup, the death of a spouse, the loss of a job or extreme anger, said Loyola University Health System cardiologist Dr. Binh An P. Phan.

Broken heart syndrome also is called stress cardiomyopathy.Symptoms are similar to those of a heart attack, including chest pain and difficulty breathing. The good news is that, over time, the symptoms go away. And unlike heart attackpatients, people with broken heart syndrome do not suffer lasting damage to their hearts, Phan said.

"Most people will get better in a few weeks without medical treatment," Phan said.

During an extremely stressful event, the heart can be overwhelmed with a surge of adrenalin and other stress hormones. This can cause a narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart. It's similar to what happens during aheart attack, when a blood clot in a coronary artery restricts blood supply to heart muscle. But unlike a heart attack,broken heart syndrome is reversible, Phan said.

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