In todays videos we will cover the Broken Hearth Syndrome. I will explain how it is caused, its symptoms, its treatment and much, much more. So make sure to watch the whole video so you don’t miss any important information.

This video is part of a videoseries on cardiovascular diseases and treatments. Find the playlists here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaG3Bo3L0gX4RW4KCNLMonBoVENz-SKM_

How does your heart function?
Your heart is a muscle, which pumps blood through your body with every contraction. Your blood flows from your heart through the arteries to your organs and muscles. And then back to the heart through your veins.
To remain functioning your heart needs oxygen and nutrients. Both are present in your blood, which is supplied to your heart through several blood vessels. These are called the coronary arteries, which wrap around the entire heart.

Broken heart syndrome:
In medical terms this is also called a Stress cardiomyopathy or Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
Its exact cause is often unknown, but it often provoked by emotional stressors (like Grief, fear, extreme anger or surprise) or physical Stressors (like a high fever, stroke, seizure, shortness of breath, severe bleeding of a low blood sugar).
These stressors might within minutes to hours cause a surge of stress hormones (like adrenaline and noradrenaline). These hormones might bind directly to you heart cells, causing large amounts of calcium to enter the cells. This large intake of calcium can prevent the heart cells from beating properly.
Furthermore, these hormones might also cause contractions/muscle spasms of the muscles in your coronary arteries. This decreases the blood flow to your heart, contributing to the broken heart syndrome.

Symptoms:
Chest pain, shortness of breath, sweating and dizziness.

Complications:
It may lead to pulmonary edema, a low blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat, a shock, heart failure and the formation of blood clots which may cause an heart attack of stroke.
The good news thought, is that these complications are rare and most people recover quickly from the broken heart syndrome without permanent damage. Typically within days or weeks.

Prevention:
Stop smoking, limit your alcohol consumption, exercise at least 150 minutes each week, consume a balanced diet (with low levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar. Eat plenty of fibers, fruit and vegetables), maintain an healthy weight, have a structured sleeping schedule (7-9 hours of sleep each night) and decrease stress (by maintaining social contacts, doing fun activities and relaxing).

Treatment:
Your doctor might recommend ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers, beta blockers, diuretics and blood thinning medication.

– Disclaimer: this video and the comments are meant purely informational! This is not medical advice! If you are looking for medical advice always contact your own doctor. –

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Literature:
1: Wittstein IS. (2022). Broken Heart Syndrome. Johns Hopkins Medicine
2: Mayo clinic staff. (2021). Broken heart syndrome. Mayo clinic
3: Havard Health. (2022). Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (broken-heart syndrome). Havard Health Publishing

* The images in this video are used for educational purposes only. Most of the images and video material in this video come from https://www.canva.com/.

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