Stress is an enemy to heart health has long been known. And that precisely this response to external events, such as the death of a family member or even just a burglary at home, can open the door in those predisposed to Tako-Tsubo syndrome. This picture, which mainly affects women after menopause, is characterized by the appearance of the classic symptoms of heart attack, but when coronary angiography is performed the arteries supplying the heart are “clean”.
The condition is therefore characterized by reduced heart function which is likely related to stress and which exhibits the same symptoms as a regular heart attack. And here comes the amygdala, a small nervous structure that intervenes in the memorization processes and comes into play when we have to manage emotions, such as sadness, happiness or, precisely, stress. To suspect an important role of this small “almond” inside the skull is a research that appeared on European Heart Journal and coordinated by Shady Abohashem, of Harvard University.
Symptoms of a heart attack
The study looked at just over 100 people, with an average age of around 67, in seven cases out of ten women. The working hypothesis arises from the idea that excessive activity of the amygdala is present in those who develop Tako-Tsubo syndrome, since in the stress response, if the small organ works too much, a greater probability of activation can be observed. of the sympathetic nervous system and inflammation, with consequent repercussions on cardiovascular well-being. the population under examination was subjected to Pet-Tc with tracer to evaluate the function of the amygdala and then was divided, in the 30 months following the examination, based on the appearance or not of Tako-Tsubo syndrome.
The role of the amygdala
In those who have developed the cardiac picture, the activity of the amygdala (measured with a particular parameter called AmygA) was found to be higher in controls at the start of the study and the risk that emerged also appears to be related to the “rapidity” of onset of the cardiac picture. In fact, people with higher amygdala activity presented the “heartbreak” syndrome before the others, in the observation period. In short: according to the experts, checking the values of AmygA could help us to have an index of the reaction of the nervous system to stress and above all it could become a possible therapeutic-preventive target, to develop specific treatments and prevention methods for people at risk.
Heart door
Because it breaks women’s hearts
at Federico Mereta
Tako-Tsubo syndrome would totally affect almost two out of a hundred people, especially women after menopause who have suffered a recent bereavement, among those obviously hospitalized for suspected heart attack. The picture causes severe pain in the chest and even changes in the electrocardiogram also linked to the shape that the left ventricle assumes, which is precisely that of a narrow-necked vessel, hence the name Tako-Tsubo. The picture is manifested by severe pain in the chest, perhaps with alterations in the electrocardiogram trace. But after the checks on the vascular tree that supplies the heart it is seen that the coronary arteries do not have significant obstructions. These characteristics, in addition to the shape assumed by the left ventricle which becomes like a pot-bellied vessel with a narrow neck, characterize the classic “heartbreak”. Even if the damage is usually temporary, the disease can be potentially lethal. Finally, it is clear from the data that women are more at risk. According to a study conducted at the Monash University of Melbourne, the risk of mortality is nine times higher in women.
Heart Door
Home and work put women’s hearts at risk
at Federico Mereta
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