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Broken Heart Syndrome Rapid help for broken heart possible
Since the early 1990s in medicine, the so-called "broken heart syndrome" ("broken heart syndrome") known as a disease. German researchers have now been able to get new and fundamental insights into the causes of the disease and a treatment option.
The disease "Broken Heart Syndrome" has been known for decades
Her or him was "broken heart". That this can be not only a saying, but also a medical reality, has been known among professionals for over 20 years. In the early 1990s, the disease "Broken Heart Syndrome" ("broken heart syndrome") was first described. It was initially found mainly in older women who had lost their husband. It is now known in medicine that the disease can lead to long-term heart damage, among other things. German researchers have now found out more about the causes of the disease. These could contribute to a better therapy.
For decades, medical professionals have known the so-called "broken heart syndrome". Researchers have now gained new insights into the causes of the disease. (Image: Di Studio / fotolia.com) Illness after severe mental stress
Chest pain, shortness of breath, increased cardiac enzyme levels in the blood and changes in the cardiac output curve on the ECG - in acute cases, the symptoms initially indicate a heart attack.
However, about two percent of all suspected heart attack patients actually suffer from a life-threatening dysfunction of the heart with similar symptoms: Takotsubo syndrome (TTS), also known as "broken heart syndrome".
This disease occurs after a strong mental stress, such as sadness or heartache. Most women are affected after the menopause.
How this syndrome arises, we do not know yet. The underlying mechanisms were so far completely unclear and therapeutic approaches unsuccessful.
New insights into the causes of the disease
Researchers at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) have now been able to obtain new and fundamental insights into the causes of the disease and the possibility of treating the "Broken Heart Syndrome".
They have identified novel signaling pathways and are able to substantiate previously assumed assumptions for a genetic predisposition. The findings of the scientists are based on studies of stem cells from patients suffering from "Broken Heart Syndrome", from which beating heart cells were produced.
The findings have now been published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC).
Of particular importance for the development of new therapeutic methods
"The identification of previously unidentified signaling pathways is of particular importance for the development of new therapies," Dr. Katrin Streckfuß-Bömeke, senior author of the publication and head of the working group "Translational Stem Cell Research" of the Department of Cardiology and Pulmonology of the UMG in a communication.
"With the help of stem cells and heart tissue from affected patients, we were able to visualize the molecular mechanisms of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy on a patient-specific level for the first time," says the expert.
The cardiac cells produced from stem cells of Broken Heart Syndrome Patients therefore show an increased β-adrenergic signal transduction and an up to six times the normal value increased sensitivity to stress hormones, so-called catecholamines.
These two mechanisms have been identified by cardiac researchers as typical of "Broken Heart Syndrome" sufferers.
In their study, the scientists were also able to confirm the hypothesis that due to familial clustering a genetic component for the "Broken Heart Syndrome" is based.
A hitherto little explored disease
"Based on this work, we now want to identify genetic factors for preloading in a large TTS patient cohort and develop long-term therapeutic treatments," Dr. Streckfuß-Bömeke.
In addition, the mode of action of various drugs on the diseased heart cells will be further researched.
"The study is an important basis and a breakthrough for a hitherto poorly understood disease," said Prof. Dr. med. Gerd Hasenfuß, Chairman of the Heart Center of the University Medical Center Göttingen and co-author of the study.
The Takotsubo syndrome
The clinical picture of Takotsubo syndrome was described for the first time in the 1990s by Japanese physicians Keigo Dote and Hikaru Sato.
The namesake was a traditional, Japanese octopus trap in the form of a dented Tonkrugs with neck narrowed. The peculiar form of the left ventricle at the end of systole, which was reminiscent of it, was regarded by the medical profession as the result of a circulatory disturbance of the heart muscle.
Since the disease often occurs as a result of severe mental stress, such as the loss of a loved one, emotional stress or grief, is also colloquially spoken by the "Broken Heart Syndrome".
About two percent of all patients with the suspected diagnosis heart attack actually suffer from a "broken heart syndrome". Certainty brings only a cardiac catheterization.
If it shows no closures of the coronary arteries, it is probably a "broken heart". Most women are affected after the menopause. In the acute phase, nearly a quarter of patients experience serious complications with fatal consequences. (Ad)