Can you die from a broken heart? Symptoms and causes of broken heart syndrome.

“Nothing breaks like a heart,” Miley Cyrus once sang.

However, a broken heart can have serious medical consequences. The physical effects of grief or loss can even be fatal, so immediate medical attention is essential.

Can you really die from a broken heart? A cardiovascular specialist tells you what you need to know about the medical side effects of heartbreak.

Can you die from a broken heart?

Yes, technically you can die from a broken heart. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for one in five deaths. While factors such as diabetes, diet, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are risk factors for heart disease, stress (which can include the emotional impact of a broken heart) can also play a role.

“Stress can trigger a typical heart attack and people die from it,” says Dr. Harmony Reynolds, director of the Sarah Ross Soter Center for Women's Cardiovascular Research at NYU Langone.

A common example of “dying of a broken heart” is someone who dies shortly after losing their partner.

“Part of it is heart disease. I don't think we understand exactly why that is,” says Reynolds. “It's just one of many pieces of evidence that stress is a trigger for cardiovascular disease.”

Suffering from a broken heart is a real, dangerous condition that many Americans struggle with for weeks or months. Some may suffer from Takotsubo syndrome, also known as broken heart syndrome, which is one of the focuses of Reynolds' research.

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What is broken heart syndrome?

Takotsubo syndrome is a “transient heart condition that is often triggered by a psychologically or physically stressful event such as the death of a loved one,” says Reynolds' clinic. It accounts for about 1% of all acute coronary syndromes and is often indistinguishable from a heart attack – rapid medical intervention is therefore essential.

This sudden weakening of the heart muscles probably occurs because the autonomic nervous system is out of balance, Reynolds says. The cause may be physical or emotional stress, but she sees cases with an unidentifiable stressor in about a third of cases.

The symptoms of Takotsubo syndrome do not necessarily appear at the moment when the heart breaks, so to speak.

“As I have often seen in my clinical practice, it doesn't happen immediately, but days or weeks later,” says Reynolds. “One of the phenomena of stress is that we ruminate about it, and sometimes these thoughts are even unconscious.”

Sometimes stressors are triggered by “happy stressors” – positive life events such as celebrations, particularly emotional speeches or the birth of a grandchild, Reynolds says.

In Takotsubo syndrome, 90% of affected patients are postmenopausal women, many of whom have previously been diagnosed with mood disorders or brain diseases, including strokes.

“The timing after menopause in so many women makes us realize that hormones play a role in some way,” says Reynolds. “But it's not the moment of menopause, so it doesn't seem to be the cessation of hormones themselves.”

Treatment is still relatively unknown, although Reynolds has found that prescribed ACE inhibitors have a positive impact on recovery. NYU Langone's clinical trials attempt to intervene through exercise, yoga and meditation, which are known to improve parasympathetic (relaxation) function through deep breathing.

What to do if you suffer from broken heart syndrome:

Although patients with Takotsubo syndrome usually make a full recovery, the condition can feel just like a heart attack, making it easy to confuse it.

It is safer to assume a heart attack and go to the emergency room immediately.

Takotsubo syndrome doesn't necessarily present as chest pain, but can occur anywhere between the jaw and teeth or in the upper stomach area, Reynolds says. It may also include shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, sweating or a “feeling that something doesn't feel right.”

Based on her research on heart disease in women, Reynolds offers the following advice to women who may have Takotsobu syndrome:

• Don’t trivialize your pain: “I've tried to use the name (broken heart syndrome) less because some people feel it downplays what happened to them,” says Reynolds. “People think, 'They could have had it under control, if only they hadn't been so upset, these women would never have had this problem.'”

• Go to the emergency room immediately: Don't assume it's not a heart attack

• Stand up for yourself: “Come in and say, 'I think I'm having a heart attack,'” Reynolds says. A 2022 study found that women with chest pain have longer wait times in the emergency room than white men, and women of color wait even longer.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Can you die from a broken heart? How stress affects the heart.