Report: Time Does Not Mend a Broken Heart

Time does not mend a broken heart, according to a new scientific report which claims “broken heart syndrome” can leave unrecoverable damage.

The British Heart Foundation funded the study, which was conducted by medical researchers from the University of Aberdeen and “followed 52 patients over four months, aged between 28 and 87, who suffered with what is officially known as takotsubo syndrome,” according to The Telegraph.

“The little-known condition was first coined in Japan in 1990 and named after the native word for an octopus pot, which has a unique shape that resembles a broken left ventricle,” they explained. “It is provoked when the heart muscle is suddenly ‘stunned’, causing the left ventricle to change shape, and is typically prompted by ‘intense emotional or physical stress’.”

The condition has no known medical cure.

“This study has shown that in some patients who develop takotsubo syndrome, various aspects of heart function remain abnormal for up to four months afterwards,” said Professor Metin Avkiran, the associate medical director for the British Heart Foundation. “Worryingly, these patients’ hearts appear to show a form of scarring, indicating that full recovery may take much longer, or indeed may not occur, with current care… This highlights the need to urgently find new and more effective treatments for this devastating condition.”

According to The Telegraph, between three and seventeen percent of sufferers die within five years of diagnosis.

Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.