Broken heart syndrome can lead to cancer
(Photo: Getty image) Regardless its detailed ringing name, “broken-heart syndrome” is in fact a real disease and now researchers have found evidence that it’s connected to the second leading cause of death worldwide: cancer. According to research, in 1990, scientists in Japan first recognised Takotsubo syndrome (TTS), and causes symptoms such as sudden chest pain, short of breath and low blood pressure. The Harvard Medical School describes it as a sudden “weakening of the left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber.” The condition has long been connected to an emotionally traumatizing events, which can also trigger mental illness. Research states that one in six of patients with TTS had cancer and, perhaps relatedly, were far less likely to survive for five years after it occurred. The most common cancer among participants, 87 percent of whom were women — was breast, but included cancers affecting other parts of the body, such as the skin and gastrointestinal system.