PENNSYLVANIA, USA — There are no shortages of hearts in February.
It's American Heart Month and the month of love.
But not every heart is filled with the warm and fuzzies.
Some can be broken, literally.
When you think of a broken heart, what do you think of?
"Sad, you know maybe a bad breakup," said Stacey Azarski, Moosic.
"It means your sad, and it's sad when you have a broken heart," said Elizabeth Padula, Nibbles & Bits.
Broken heart silliness aside, there is a medical condition known as "broken heart syndrome," and doctors have been seeing it more and more in women throughout the course of the pandemic.
Dr. Deborah Sundlof is co-director of the women's heart and vascular program at Lehigh Valley Health Network.
She says "broken heart syndrome" is caused by intense emotional stress.
Several cases have come through the network over the course of the pandemic. It's fair to say the last few years have been especially stressful.
"We are not exactly sure what happens pathologically, but we think it may be related to an increase in our adrenaline and our response to something stressful, sad, or scary, and this can lead to a squeezing or tightening of the arteries, which prevents the blood flow from getting to the heart," said Dr. Sundlof.
Dr. Sundlof says symptoms mimic a heart attack to both patients and doctors at first, but there's a distinct difference between the two.
"We do a heart catheterization, which is the gold standard, we put dye into the arteries around the heart, and we see that the arteries are fine. So what caused this heart to become weak? What we found is that this broken heart syndrome appears to happen," said Dr. Sundlof.
Health experts say "broken heart syndrome" can only be diagnosed by a doctor, and people experiencing any type of chest pain should get medical help immediately.
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