COVID-19 stress can affect your heart

New research by Cleveland Clinic cardiologists shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in patients with stress cardiomyopathy, also known as “broken heart syndrome.”

Stress cardiomyopathy occurs as a response to physical or emotional distress and results in dysfunction or failure of the heart muscle.

Typically, when one member of a life-long couple passes and their partner follows in hours, days or a few weeks, physicians say the second decedent died of broken heart syndrome.

The research about stress cardiomyopathy and COVID-19 involves 258 patients who came to Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Akron (Ohio) General with acute coronary syndrome between March 1 and April 30.

Cardiologists compared the patients with four control groups of acute coronary syndrome patients before the pandemic over four time periods: March to April 2018, January to February 2019, March to April 2019 and January to February 2020.

Researchers found 7.8 percent of the patients were diagnosed with stress cardiomyopathy during the pandemic, compared to an incidence rate ranging from 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent before the pandemic. All of the patients diagnosed with stress cardiomyopathy tested negative for COVID-19.

They also found patients with stress cardiomyopathy during the pandemic had a longer length hospital stay compared to those hospitalized before the pandemic period studied. They did not find a significant difference in death rates between the groups.

The research results were published in JAMA Network Open.

The Take-Away: Those with already-diagnosed heart problems should checkin with their cardiologists (heart specialists) regularly. If you have prescriptions for heart medications or supplements for heart disease, take these religiously. Exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet -- and if you don’t know, ask your physician.