While loss of a loved one or breakdown of a relationship is often linked to a "broken heart", not much is known why such emotional trauma could make someone physically ill. New research suggests that the body's own immune response could play a key role in the condition.
Symptoms of broken heart syndrome include shortness of breath and chest pain and as such it is often mistaken for a heart attack. However, unlike in a heart attack, patients do not suffer from a blockage of the arteries that supply the heart with blood.
The cause of broken heart syndrome is not clearly understood but often is a result of intense emotional or physical trauma, which is thought to induce a strong response that affects the heart tissue.