Working from Home in the COVID-19 Pandemic Caused Broken Heart Syndrome
Changing your work environment drastically can lead to stress, which, it seems, can lead to suffering from Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (also known as broken heart syndrome).
Header image by Olivier Collet
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) is better known as “broken heart syndrome”. First discovered in Japan, this acute and dangerous illness of the heart develops most often after physical or emotional stress – most famously after the loss of a loved one. The mechanism by which this illness develops is not well understood, but the therapy for it is well established.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is named after the Japanese word for “octopus pot” – a kind of underwater trap for octopi – because for people who suffer from this condition, the heart’s left ventricle resembles such a pot when examined under a chest X-ray.
Illustration: Nick Taylor
This recent case report by Ernan Zhu et al.1 describes a patient who developed Takotsubo cardiomyopathy after a remote work meeting.
What seems to have happened here, is that the new work environment resulting from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic restrictions, and the increased psychological stress inherent in the pandemic itself, caused the patient to develop this serious disease.
An excerpt from the discussion section of the paper
Luckily, the patient went to a hospital emergency room early enough to be treated successfully. Always go to the hospital and have yourself checked out if you experience long-lasting or drastic chest pain, especially when this is accompanied by other symptoms like circulatory issues. It may save your life.
To me, this research is noteworthy, because it is another data point in an avalanche of evidence that seems to validate the theory that many changes that were brought on by the hastily enacted pandemic measures where not, in fact, very good for our society. People might prefer to work from home for many reasons – I should know, I’ve exclusively done so since January 2019 – but they also seem to largely ignore the tangible negatives such a change in lifestyle can introduce. Be careful that it doesn’t break your heart.