Death by Broken Heart

“Do people really die of broken hearts?” asks the Times’ health blog. Elevated stress hormones following an emotionally trying event may cause cardiomyopathy, a.k.a. broken heart syndrome. “It may be that elevated stress hormones interfere with normal blood flow, causing the heart damage. Or it may be that the hormones bind to the heart muscle, causing changes to the heart cells. The resulting damage produces symptoms that mimic a typical heart attack, including chest pain, fluid in the lungs and shortness of breath,” writes Tara Parker-Pope, author of the blog.