First cure to stop 'dying of broken heart'

Exercise may help recently bereaved

- BY MARTIN BAGOT

EXERCISE could be prescribed to help treat a condition that affects thousands of bereaved people a year.

Takotsubo syndrome, or broken heart syndrome, has similar symptoms to a heart attack and usually occurs just after the death of a loved one.

It affects thousands of people a year, plus an unknown number who die shortly after a relative without an official diagnosis.

Now, in the first ever clinical trial into the devastating condition, researchers found patients could benefit from a three-month exercise programme, as well as counselling.

Study author Dr David Gamble, from the University of Aberdeen, said: "In Takotsubo syndrome, there are serious effects on the heart, which may not return to normal.