Chennai: For the first time, medical researchers have uncovered a way to prevent and reverse damage caused by broken-heart syndrome, also known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
Being dubbed as landmark study, the research was conducted by a team from Monash University.
It has shown the cardioprotective benefit of a drug called Suberanilohydroxamic acid (SAHA) which target genes.
The world first for Takotsubo cardiomyopathy dramatically improved cardiac health and reversed the broken heart.
The condition caused by stress is known as stress cardiomyopathy or apical ballooning. It has the same symptoms as a heart attack but is not caused by any underlying cardiovascular disease.
The goal of the study, led by Prof Sam El-Osta from Monash Central Clinical School, was to better understand the regulatory mechanism as a first step towards improved treatment plans.
‘We show for the first time a drug that shows preventative and therapeutic benefit is important to a healthy heart. The drug not only slows cardiac injury but also reverses, the damage caused to the stressed heart,’ Prof El-Osta said.
Broken-heart syndrome is a weakening of the left ventricle, the heart’s main pumping chamber and is brought on by stressful emotional triggers often following traumatic events such as the death of a loved one or a family separation. This condition mimics a heart attack with chest pain, shortness of breath and irregular heartbeat.