AS IT IS 2016-03-11 Ever Feel Like You'll Die of A Broken Heart?

AS IT IS 2016-03-11 Ever Feel Like You'll Die of A Broken Heart?

Dying of a broken heart sounds like the ending of a romantic story.

But it actually happens.

The “broken heart syndrome¹,” usually affects people who have received very bad news.

Recently however, researchers discovered that even joyful² events can kill you.

“Broken heart syndrome” is officially called Takotsubo syndrome, or TTS. It involves the sudden weakening of heart muscles. This weakening causes the left ventricle to expand abnormally at the bottom. If you remember from health class, the left ventricle is the chamber³ of the heart that pushes oxygen-rich blood through the body.

The symptoms of Takotsubo syndrome are acute chest pain and shortness of breath. The syndrome can lead to heart attacks and death.

Even though Takotsubo syndrome is fairly rare, the scientific community has studied how unexpected emotional shocks can cause a heart attack. These shocks are usually unpleasant, such as the death of a spouse⁴ or a violent argument.

However, no one had ever investigated whether an extremely happy event could give the same result.

Until now.

In 2011, a pair of researchers in Switzerland set up a global registry to track cases of the syndrome. Christian⁵ Templin and Jelena Ghadri are both with University Hospital Zurich.

Five years later, their registry involves a network of 25 hospitals spread across nine countries. They had collected data on 1,750 cases of the Takotsubo syndrome. This number of cases -- 1,750 -- is said to be “statistically significant” by scientific communities.

For the study, Templin and Ghadri led a team of 16 researchers. The team found that emotional shocks caused 485 of those 1,750 cases. And within that group of 485, a total of 20 people could be said to have suffered from “happy heart syndrome.”

In an interview, Ghardi said that the researchers have shown that the causes for TTS are more varied⁶ than previously⁷ thought. The disease can be caused by positive emotions, too.

The events that caused the 20 cases of “happy heart syndrome” include a birthday party, a wedding, a surprise farewell celebration, a favorite team winning a game, and the birth of a grandchild. However, none of these cases of “happy heart syndrome” caused death.

Ghadri and her team published their findings in the European Heart Journal.

So what is the important take-away from this study?

Emergency room doctors should be aware of the fact that patients with signs of heart attack could be suffering from TTS. And these TTS cases could be caused by either positive or negative experiences.

Another interesting take-away is that TTS affects mostly women.

For reasons the researchers do not yet understand, 95 percent of the patients in both the “broken heart” and “happy heart” groups are women. These women are mostly in their mid- to late-60s.

Ghadri said she and her team still do not know why women are mostly affected⁸ by the Takotsubo syndrome.

The fact that more women than men are affected by Takotsubo syndrome is even stranger when you consider that heart attacks are more common among men.

The researchers suspect that the hormone⁹ estrogen may play a part in how the disease operates. Women have much higher levels of estrogen than men. In men, testosterone is the dominant¹⁰ hormone.

Happy and sad life events are, of course, very different. Further studies are also needed to figure out if both events share the same pathway in the central nervous system for causing Takotsubo syndrome.

Japanese researchers discovered the condition. They named it after a traditional Japanese octopus¹¹ trap. An enlarged heart suffering from Takotsubo syndrome looks like an octopus trap.

Words in This Story

ventricle – n. one of two areas in the heart that pump blood out to the body

abnormally – adv. different from what is normal or average; unusual, especially in a way that causes problems

chamber – n. a small space inside something (such as a machine or your body)

acute – adj. of or related to sharpness or severity;  having a sudden or sharp rise, and short course; being, providing, or requiring short-term medical care; lasting¹² a short time

estrogen – n. a substance (called a hormone) produced naturally in women

testosterone – n. a substance (called a hormone) produced naturally in men and male animals

1 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

2 joyful   

adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的

参考例句：

• She was joyful of her good result of the scientific experiments.她为自己的科学实验取得好成果而高兴。
• They were singing and dancing to celebrate this joyful occasion.他们唱着、跳着庆祝这令人欢乐的时刻。

3 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

4 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

7 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

10 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

11 octopus   

n.章鱼

参考例句：

• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。
• One octopus has eight tentacles.一条章鱼有八根触角。

12 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。