A 59-year-old man arrived at the Peking University First Hospital in Beijing for a procedure when he started having severe chest pain and shortness of breath.

Four months earlier, he had cancerous tumors removed from his bladder. Around his family, he tried his best to appear strong and avoided discussions of his health. Privately, his severe anxiety over the possibility of a cancer recurrence kept him awake at night.

Doctors said the man was experiencing takotsubo cardiomyopathy — also known as broken heart syndrome, as documented in a 2021 case study . The rare stress-induced heart condition has been observed primarily in women, but a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in May found that the illness may be more deadly for the men who get it.

Thought to

See Full Page