Have you ever heard someone describe their feelings on a recent break up saying that their broken heart is so painful they could die? What about the phenomenon where one spouse of a couple that has been together for a long time dies and the other dies shortly after? This raises the question, can one really die of a broken heart or is it just a figure of speech? According to the American Heart Association this event once thought of as a legend is now a reality.

The actual term for this condition is stress-induced cardiomyopathy and the Heart Association says that even those individuals who are otherwise healthy may also be at risk for this problem. With this being said the heart doesn’t physically break, as seen in some cartoons, but it exhibits symptoms similar to those of a heart attack, in fact it is often assumed that those who suffer from this are having a heart attack. But how does this work? After all the heart doesn’t actually process romantic feelings like it is often portrayed to. The answer to this question is stress. This heart condition is not directly caused by a break up or death of a significant other but the stress that it inflicts on a person’s heart. Stress, as defined by John’s Hopkins Medicine is ““Stress” refers to the body’s response to things it perceives as abnormal.” A death or the end of a relationship is certainly an example of one of these such abnormal things. However, stress-induced cardiomyopathy can also be caused by other things such as a long distance relationship or even school work. What does this mean for the average person? Can anyone get this and is it recurring?

Stress-induced cardiomyopathy is an admittedly scary disease and from the evidence to be found on it this disease can strike anyone who is stressed, which is the majority of the population. To answer the question can anyone get this disease, yes they can if they are under a considerable amount of stress. If this frightens anyone there is good news, this often comes with symptoms similar to those of a heart attack and since most people go to the doctor when they experience these symptoms it can be treated and end up being harmless. In addition, John’s Hopkins Medicine as well as the American Heart Association have found that this disease is more common among women, especially those over the age of 60 and people with previous heart problems and from their research it doesn’t appear to be a chronic disease. So could the average college student get this disease? Yes. Is it likely? According to the evidence that has been found, no.

Stress-induced cardiomyopathy commonly known as broken heart syndrome is a very real disease and also a newly recognized disease. It is for this reason that there really much definitive information to be had when it comes to this disease, could these people who supposedly suffer from this disease have something else? Yes and there are also a number of other things that could be causing this to happen to people, as shown on the graph found on the American Heart Association’s patient page, provided to the right, on the subject this disease has only gained notoriety recently so there are still questions to be considered. Hopefully in the coming years there will be more information on stress-induced cardiomyopathy, but for now the answer to the age-old question can you really die of a broken heart? Is yes.

Works Cited

Frequently Asked Questions about Broken Heart Syndrome.” Frequently Asked Questions about Broken Heart Syndrome. John’s Hopkins Medicine, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.

“Is Broken Heart Syndrome Real?” Is Broken Heart Syndrome Real? American Heart Association, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.

“Takotsubo (Stress) Cardiomyopathy.” Takotsubo (Stress) Cardiomyopathy. American Heart Association, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.