Can You Die From a Broken Heart? The Answer is Shocking
Now and again, life hits you where it hurts and you are so miserable, it feels like the world is ending.
Well, cheer up, because it could be the end of you! Albeit uncommon, it can, and has occurred.
Here we’re going to perceive how precisely you can kick the bucket from a broken heart.
Official Diagnosis and Causes
The condition has several names: Broken Heart Syndrome, stress-induced cardiomyopathy, or takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
Tako tsubo is an octopus trap, which looks like the heart’s pot shape. Females are usually more at risk of broken heart syndrome.
However, the largest group of women affected by Takotsubus are post-menopausal women. More than 90 % of the cases recorded are females between 58 and 75 years of age.
Nevertheless, this syndrome may be caused by some drastic failure. It could be the death of a loved one, divorce, breakup, betrayal, rejection and other significant separation.
All this triggers a rise in stress hormones due to the heartbreak. Research has shown that the chance of death is substantially increased within the first month after a loved one dies.
This can cause elevated cardiac rate, higher blood pressure, pressurizes your heart and weaken the immune system. Stress is an effective killer.
One major mass-diagnosis of takostubo was in 2011 after the earthquake in Christchurch, which killed 185 people. More than 20 people eventually were diagnosed with Broken-Heart Syndrome.
Albeit 20 doesn’t seem like much, it’s a high number considering this condition is uncommon.
Symptoms of Broken-Heart Syndrome
If you have a broken-heart syndrome, part of the heart will temporarily swell and stops pumping. The rest of your heart will either retain its functionality or will have even stronger contractions.
Due to similarities, the broken-heart syndrome might be misdiagnosed as a heart attack. Symptoms and test findings are identical, but the broken heart condition does not involve blocked arteries.
Somebody with the broken-heart condition will encounter an unexpected pain in their chest and breathlessness. It can lead to serious, short-term failure of the heart muscle, but can be treated as a whole.
Anyone that suffers from this should hope that they can completely recover in a couple of weeks, and once you have it, the risk is much smaller.
Treatment and Recovery
The majority of cases with a broken-heart syndrome have happy endings. Patients can usually recover completely within several weeks or at most two months.
Doctors can treat this with diuretics that strengthen heart muscle contractions, beta-blockers, or other drugs that block the negative effects of stress hormones on the heart.
Can You Die From a Broken Heart?
It is only in very rare circumstances that you will die from this, but it is likely.
In extreme cases, the body can experience cardiogenic shock, which is when the heart is weakened to such an extent that it can not pump enough blood that the body requires.
When not treated promptly, this particular reaction can be fatal. Other risks can include fluid backup in the lungs, low blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, or heart failure.
Death is uncommon but in approx. 20% of broken-heart-syndrome patients cardiac failure occurs.
Others have reported cases of the broken-heart syndrome among celebrities including Debbie Reynolds who died a day after her daughter, Carrie Fisher, and Johnny Cash who died within months of his wife’s death.
And you can theoretically die from a broken heart as an answer to the problem, yes, but you surely won’t!
Can pets die from a broken heart?
In a 2011 Daily Mail story, which documented the death of a dog in Afghanistan that had lost its owner, animal psychologist Roger Mugford said that he had seen a variety of instances in which pets had died of grief. The study, a survey of 279 people, showed that both cats and dogs could experience severe behavioural changes following the passing of a fellow animal.
Also, the animals kept looking for the dead, whined and whimpered when they couldn’t locate them. In addition, the cats and dogs in the study, much like the Wandering Cloud and the animals in Cory McKeown’s animal shelter, displayed mild to extreme loss of appetite, lack of energy and loss of vitality.
Unfortunately, when cats stop eating, they rapidly develop a disorder called a fatty liver disease that causes liver failure and ultimately dies. Much like this happens to dogs when they stop eating.
Therefore, it may be argued that, in cases of extreme loss of appetite, the sorrow of pets leads to a sort of indirect self-destruction by the refusal to eat. There are several warning signs of grief in animals, and learning to identify them will allow owners to take action before the symptoms of grief have caused an irreversible toll.
Hi, I’m Jodie! I’m a spain-Moroccan writer with a passion for imagination, adventures, magic and stories with heart.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me for any questions, suggestions, comments or feedback.
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