It is that wonderful time of the year, Valentine’s Day! The day where we celebrate the love we have for a significant other, showing our own ways to express it, whether it is through flowers, chocolates, romantic dinner, and well, you know. Love is a true expression of the passion we have for another person, and a very healthy and much needed emotion in our human experience. No one wants to ever lose that feeling, however there may have been a time when that love was tested, or have actually had that love torn.
We fall in love, or at the very least a very large crush with someone, just to find out that they either don’t feel the same way or have decided to turn the other way, leaving us standing alone, with our heart crushed on the floor. Getting a “broken heart” is one thing that none of us ever want to experience, and have always thought of a broken heart more as an emotional term rather than an actual one. Some studies are showing however that a broken heart is actually a very real and rare symptom.
Broken Heart Syndrome is rare but is a real form of heart failure that occurs in a traumatic experience. Most people who actually face broken heart syndrome are postmenopausal women, and the symptoms are very similar to a mild heart attack, though what happens is very different. In a heart attack, the heart is denied and blocked off from oxygen, but with broken heart syndrome, a surge of hormones attack the muscles, preventing them from pumping.
Yes, in these cases, the triggers can come from a very sad occasion, but it also can come from a moment of sudden happiness, such as a surprise birthday, engagement or something like winning the lottery. Only about 1-2% of heart attacks have actually be determined to be Broken Heart syndrome, and in most cases, the patient has made a full recovery.
Broken Heart Syndrome is very rare and not very life threatening, and just like an emotional “broken heart” the victim can get back on their two feet and take next steps to become stronger and wiser. So, come on Stella, this Valentine’s Day, don’t worry about a broken heart, get your groove back and rock that love that you have and deserve!
Chris Haro