Stress can trigger the Tako-Tsubo syndrome

Severe mental stress can trigger Tako-Tsubo syndrome. The course of the disease can be so severe that some patients even died as a result.

Mental stress and intense physical exertion can cause serious heart disease. Hundreds of people were already deadly in Germany alone „Tako-Tsubo syndrome“ ill. Translated this disease means "broken heart syndrome". Doctors also refer to the syndrome as „Stress cardiomyopathy“. Especially older women are affected by the still relatively unknown and rare syndrome.

Connections of the syndrome
For the first time in 1991 Japanese scientists investigated the exact relationships of the syndrome. The disease was named after a round clay pot with a narrow neck, which was formerly used in East Asia for catching squid. As the researchers found out, as a result of the syndrome, the left ventricle may deform as well as a clay pot. The heart base expands like a balloon after every pumping action of the heart. Because at the same time the output strangulates bottleneck, much too little blood gets into the main artery. The electrocardiogram (ECG) shows typical changes that occur in a heart attack, explains the cardiologist and cardiologist Dr. med. Birch Schneider from the Sana-Klinik in Lübeck. But unlike an infarct, the coronary vessels show no typical narrowing in a catheter examination.

Symptoms of heart disease.
Between the years 2006 and 2099 that became „Tako-Tsubo syndrome“ diagnosed in 324 people in Germany. Since 2006, the Association of Cardiological Chief Medical Officers has collected cases of this kind from a total of 37 hospitals. First symptoms of the disease are typical as in a heart attack. Patients complained of severe chest pain, shortness of breath and anxiety. Some patients become unconscious, others need to be reanimated. About 2.2 percent of those affected died as a result of the attack. A serious cardiac arrhythmia occurred in about 9 percent of patients.

Older women are particularly affected.
Especially older women seem to be particularly affected. About nine out of ten patients were women. The average age of the patients is 68 years of age. It was noticeable that in most cases a strong emotional or physical strain was the cause of the syndrome. Emotional stress, such as a violent quarrel or the death of a close person, were represented as the main causes with 36 percent very often. Equally frequent were stressful situations such as accidents or medical interventions (operations). In some patients, other symptoms, such as an advanced asthma attack, were the cause of the heart attack. It also happened that happy events, such as a lottery win, was a trigger. Only in 23 percent of those affected could no original event be found.

Dr. Birch Schneider suspects in the journal "DMW German Medical Weekly" that excessive physical or mental stress loads a lot of stress hormones from the adrenal glands. In particular, excessive levels of endogenous catecholamines such as epinephrine and norepinephrine were observed in the patients. For this reason, beta-blockers and stress-avoidance are prescribed in the treatment. (sb, 16.10.2010)

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