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Giant Brain Candy: A Broken Heart Can Mend. Sudden emotional shock can weaken the heart muscle, a condition nicknamed ‘broken heart syndrome’. In one well-known series of 19 patients, every heart recovered within weeks. Source: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
Strong evidenceThe research
  1. Wittstein, I. S., Thiemann, D. R., Lima, J. A. C., Baughman, K. L., Schulman, S. P., Gerstenblith, G., Wu, K. C., Rade, J. J., Bivalacqua, T. J., & Champion, H. C. (2005). Neurohumoral features of myocardial stunning due to sudden emotional stress. New England Journal of Medicine, 352(6), 539–548.

Journey 3 · Grief

A Broken Heart Can Mend

Sudden emotional shock can weaken the heart muscle, a condition nicknamed ‘broken heart syndrome’. In one well-known series of 19 patients, every heart recovered within weeks.

Source: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy · Strong evidence

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