Hailey Collett
10/24/17
CBS 7
Women diagnosed with “broken-heart syndrome” after dog dies
A death of a pet that you loved dearly can be emotionally traumatizing, but for one women it actually broke her heart. A case of a 61-year old women that went to the E.R. with severe chest pain reported multiple recent stressors, including the death of her heart, report in the New England Journal of Medicine detailed.
Doctors diagnosed her with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or stress cardiomyopathy- also known as “broken-heart syndrome,” after a number of emergency tests. She was given heart medications and eventually recovered. Joanie Simpson told The Washington post that she was “close to inconsolable” after her Yorkshire terrier, Meha passed away …show more content…
When that day came Meha seemed to be doing better so she cancelled the appointment. The next day Meha died. "It was such a horrendous thing to have to witness," said Simpson, "When you're already kind of upset about other things, it's like a brick on a scale. I mean, everything just weighs on you."
Broken-heart syndrome is not uncommon according to Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular medicine at Cleveland Clinic. When someone undergoes a loss like a death of a loved one or some other horrible stress-related event, the part of the heart muscles stops contracting for a while. It will look like as heart attack but it's not a blocked coronary. He also said that it's interesting that a death of a pet brought this on, that suggest the that many people view their pets like their child.
In the medical report, Simpson had a history of hypertension and hypothyroidism when she began to have severe chest pain. Doctors say that Takotsubo cardiomyopathy can often cause similar symptoms as a heart attack. This commonly occurs in postmenopausal women and may be preceded by a stressful and emotional event. When you are under a lot of stress you have this big release of catecholamines, which is adrenaline, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Those things can affect the heart and the blood vessels, they flood the heart and what is thought that happens is that they stun the heart muscle, although it's not …show more content…
6,230 cases were reported in the U.S. in 2012 according to a study in the American Journal of Cardiology. About 90% of those with broken-heart syndrome are women, though men can get it too.
Nissen said, that most people will recover from broken-heart syndrome. Simpson was recovering well after one month and at her one-year follow up she had no symptoms. She only a cat right now but is soon getting another dog.
I connect to this article because I own 2 dogs and I love them so much and I don't want them to go anytime soon. I have a dog named Mac that is 15 years old and isn't doing the best right now and I know I will be heartbroken when he dies but I don't think I will get broken-heart syndrome. My other dog Bing is 6 years old and I am closer to him. When he dies I don't know what I'm going to do. I didn't know that broken-heart syndrome was even a thing and it's crazy to me that it could
10/24/17
CBS 7
Women diagnosed with “broken-heart syndrome” after dog dies
A death of a pet that you loved dearly can be emotionally traumatizing, but for one women it actually broke her heart. A case of a 61-year old women that went to the E.R. with severe chest pain reported multiple recent stressors, including the death of her heart, report in the New England Journal of Medicine detailed.
Doctors diagnosed her with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, or stress cardiomyopathy- also known as “broken-heart syndrome,” after a number of emergency tests. She was given heart medications and eventually recovered. Joanie Simpson told The Washington post that she was “close to inconsolable” after her Yorkshire terrier, Meha passed away …show more content…
When that day came Meha seemed to be doing better so she cancelled the appointment. The next day Meha died. "It was such a horrendous thing to have to witness," said Simpson, "When you're already kind of upset about other things, it's like a brick on a scale. I mean, everything just weighs on you."
Broken-heart syndrome is not uncommon according to Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular medicine at Cleveland Clinic. When someone undergoes a loss like a death of a loved one or some other horrible stress-related event, the part of the heart muscles stops contracting for a while. It will look like as heart attack but it's not a blocked coronary. He also said that it's interesting that a death of a pet brought this on, that suggest the that many people view their pets like their child.
In the medical report, Simpson had a history of hypertension and hypothyroidism when she began to have severe chest pain. Doctors say that Takotsubo cardiomyopathy can often cause similar symptoms as a heart attack. This commonly occurs in postmenopausal women and may be preceded by a stressful and emotional event. When you are under a lot of stress you have this big release of catecholamines, which is adrenaline, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Those things can affect the heart and the blood vessels, they flood the heart and what is thought that happens is that they stun the heart muscle, although it's not …show more content…
6,230 cases were reported in the U.S. in 2012 according to a study in the American Journal of Cardiology. About 90% of those with broken-heart syndrome are women, though men can get it too.
Nissen said, that most people will recover from broken-heart syndrome. Simpson was recovering well after one month and at her one-year follow up she had no symptoms. She only a cat right now but is soon getting another dog.
I connect to this article because I own 2 dogs and I love them so much and I don't want them to go anytime soon. I have a dog named Mac that is 15 years old and isn't doing the best right now and I know I will be heartbroken when he dies but I don't think I will get broken-heart syndrome. My other dog Bing is 6 years old and I am closer to him. When he dies I don't know what I'm going to do. I didn't know that broken-heart syndrome was even a thing and it's crazy to me that it could