The above link takes you to the WFSB website, where they discuss a new medical term called "Broken Heart Syndrome" (BHS).
This is not the first time I heard about BHS. There is a podcast segment called "Stuff Mom Never Told You", which discusses an array of topics pertaining to women. There was one episode entitled "Can you Die of a Broken Heart" which discusses the causes and signs of BHS.
When I first heard of the syndrome, I thought it was a hoax. There was no way you could die of a broken heart. Millions of people suffer from sadness that stems from an array of things. The causes of such sadness range from the end of a relationship to the lost of a loved one. So I would expect more hundreds, even thousands of people, to suffer from BHS at least once in their life.
But BHS, medically referred to as stress cardiomyopathy, goes way beyond sadness. It stems from a physiological change triggered by stressful events. In the podcast mentioned above, she refers to BHS as "Trauma of the heart" comparing it to head force trauma.
There are also many similarities between an heart attack and Broken Heart syndrome, which makes it difficult to tell which of the two occurred. The most obvious difference is that you will most likely not find clogged arteries in someone suffering from Broken Heart Syndrome.
So many times I have thought someone must be exaggerating when they describe excruciating pain over a break-up or stress. Now, if my friends tell me of any discomfort they feel, especially during a time when they are experiencing increased sadness that can "break your heart" or stress, I will wonder, "Should I call the hospital?"
