New Study Confirms You Really Can Die From a Broken Heart

When you think of having a broken heart, you may envision tears, sadness, loss and all of the feelings that go with it. However what we tend to overlook, are the cardiac consequences on our own physical hearts.

The loss of a loved one through death or break-up can be so emotionally devastating, that it can lead to broken heart syndrome. According to a new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, this heart rhythm condition now verifies that you really can die from a broken heart, known as “stress cardiomyopathy”.

The international study is the first wide scale examination of the condition, after its original description “Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy” (named for an octopus trap that resembles the changed shape of the heart after a stressful event) was given by researchers in Japan in 1990.