Can You Die of a Broken Heart?

Songwriters and poets grieve the loss of love, equating it to the greatest pain one can experience.

The hurt is definitely real.

When the love of your life leaves you, it can cause physical pain so great you think you will die. It can raise your heart rate, cause palpitations and weaken your heart muscle.

But can it kill you?

Doctors confirm that Stress Cardiomyopathy, of "Broken Heart Syndrome" is a very real thing.

You can die of a broken heart.

Researchers have found that the regions of the brain in charge of memory, learning and emotion, can destabilize the cardiac muscles and result in harmful beat rhythms and heart attack. Doctors consistently find that the levels of stress hormones in the blood of patients who died shortly after the loss of their significant other were up to three times higher than "conventional" heart-attack victims.

It is believed Johnny Cash died from Stress Cardiomyopathy just months after the love of his life June passed. Other celebrities believed to have died from broken hearts are Debbie Reynolds, Dennis Potter following his Wife Margaret, and James Callaghan- just 11 days after his wife Audrey.

An astounding fact of broken heart syndrome is that a patient can be critical one day, and with proper treatment ready to go home the next. The heart is a muscle that recovers fairly quickly if the symptoms are not ignored and left untreated.