Broken Heart Syndrome Really Does Exist [View all]

[Jesus Malverde]

How many times have you heard someone say they’re so sad about something that they have a broken heart? More often than not, they don’t really have a broken heart but it can actually happen. Broken heart syndrome is a serious medical condition caused by sadness.

When Janet Ghise’s 14-year-old dog, Maggie died unexpectedly at a kennel while she was on vacation, she was devastated.

“She was just the nicest dog,” said Ghise.

So upset, she nearly died of a broken heart.

“I said to my husband, ‘I’m going to the doctor’s, to the cardiologist, to see if he can fix my broken heart.’ It’s exactly what I said,” Ghise said.

Luckily, she just happened to have a doctor’s appointment a few days later.

“To tell you the truth, I was really short of breath, but I didn’t put any weight on it. I thought, well, this is because I’m upset,” she said.

“She walked into the office, and she just did not look well,” said Dr. Jeffrey Friedel, a cardiologist. “She was very pale; she was breaking out in a cold sweat. She was short of breath, and she was complaining of a lot of chest pressure.”

He sent her to the hospital where a heart cath showed the problem, an actual illness called broken heart syndrome.

“The heart becomes severely weakened in a very characteristic shape, and it’s usually in response to an intensely stressful event,” said Dr. Friedel. “They can be in heart failure, they can be in shock; and in the worst case scenario, they can present in full cardiac arrest.”

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/12/20/broken-heart-syndrome-really-does-exist/