Having a broken heart can be as deadly as an actual heart attack, study warns
BROKEN heart syndrome, which may have killed singer Sinead O’Connor, can be as deadly as an actual heart attack, doctors say.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy earned its nickname because it can be triggered by grief or a big breakup, and weakens the heart by swelling part of it.
The Nothing Compares 2 U singer’s ex-partner and manager both suggested it was behind her death last year, after a coroner this week ruled she died of natural causes aged 56.
O’Connor had admitted to feeling “lost” after her 17-year-old son, Shane, took his own life in 2022.
Dermott Hayes, who dated the singer for two years, said: “From this you can surmise that a broken heart is a real illness symptom, and a cause of death.
“It doesn’t make Sinead’s passing any less painful.
“It was more to do with a broken heart than anything else.”
A study by the University of Aberdeen has found people diagnosed with takotsubo have an above-average risk of death for at least five years after diagnosis.
The condition is rare but women are more likely to develop it than men, and most patients make a full recovery.
They are usually given heart attack drugs but the study of 3,720 people, in the journal JACC Advances, suggests they do not work.
A quarter of the patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy died during the study.
Professor Dana Dawson, study author and cardiologist in Scotland, said: “Our data shows quite starkly that we are not treating this condition correctly.
“These patients have increased mortality compared to the general population and as much chance of dying from this as people who have suffered heart attacks.
“It is vital that we find precise ways to treat this unique group of people.
“This study has identified one drug as a potential breakthrough but more research is needed.”
An estimated 2,500 people per year develop takotsubo cardiomyopathy in Britain.
Meanwhile, there are thought to be 1.4million heart attack survivors living in the UK.
They account for around 100,000 hospital admissions every year.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, from the British Heart Foundation, said: “More research into takotsubo could better reveal its causes and treatments to save and improve lives.”