Psychophysiological concepts of stress induced cardiomyopathy with broken hearts syndrome as a paradigm

Psychiatric disease, particularly depression and stress disorders, worsen the outcome of cardiovascular disease substantially. Although this mind-heart interaction is known since the 1930s, many questions with regard to the underlying pathophysiology remain to be answered. Apart from psychological stress and psychiatric disease, inflammatory or psychoimmunology processes, metabolic or endocrinological mechanisms may be involved as are lifestyle and effects of drug treatment. The takotsubo or broken heart cardiomyopathy, which can be regularly referred to stressful event, may serve as paradigm to understand pathological base of the mind-heart relation.