BBC NEWS | Health: "A team from Johns Hopkins University suggests patients can suffer days-long surges in adrenalin and other stress hormones which 'stun' the heart. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, says such symptoms can be mistaken for a heart attack. But these broken hearts can be mended - the damage caused by stress is temporary, usually lasting just weeks. In addition, echocardiograms - a test which measures heart function, and electrocardiograms, which measure electrical activity in the heart, showed a unique pattern, distinct from the results seen after heart attacks.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans confirmed that none of the stressed patients had suffered irreversible muscle damage. In heart attack patients, partial recovery can take weeks or months, and the heart muscle is frequently permanently damaged. They suggest it could be that the chemicals cause the coronary arteries to spasm, that they have a direct toxic effect on the heart muscle, or that they cause a calcium overload which temporary affects the heart. "
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
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