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I'd never heard of Takotsubo before
“I remember thinking, how on earth am I going to remember that name?!” she says.
Back in 2013, Caron Curragh suffered two Takotsubo attacks – a mild one after a car accident, and a second one a month later which almost killed her.
“I had a disagreement with my neighbour and the contractor who was laying their new driveway. I politely asked them to move the bricks that had been blocking our driveway for days. They started to shout. I walked into the house, to all appearances remaining calm, and it was then that I had the Takotsubo episode that almost ended my life,” Caron explains.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy occurs when one of the heart’s chambers, the left ventricle, suddenly balloons and weakens. This means that the heart can’t pump blood around the body properly, and this extra stress can lead to heart failure.
The word ‘takotsubo’ originates in Japan, from the name for an octopus trap. This is because the left ventricle of the heart changes into a similar shape as the trap, developing a narrow neck and a round bottom.
We are still learning about Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Scientists believe the phenomenon occurs as a reaction to a surge of adrenaline to the heart after extreme emotional or physical stress, but 30% of cases have no known trigger at all.
Unfortunately, there are no known treatments to help in the early stages of Takotsubo, or to prevent it from happening again.
How do you know if someone has Takotsubo?
There are many different symptoms associated with Takotsubo. “For me, it was the classic Hollywood chest clench. I had sharp stabbing pain to the left of my sternum, and the same at the left inner border of my scapula and jaw. I felt clammy and my breathing changed,” Caron explains.
On first appearance, someone with Takotsubo might look like they are having a heart attack, even to a doctor. The symptoms, electrocardiogram (ECG), and even the blood tests, of someone experiencing Takotsubo can appear the same as someone who is having a heart attack. However, this paints a misleading picture: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and a heart attack are two very different conditions.
Professor Dana Dawson at the University of Aberdeen, funded by the BHF, says that her team’s ultimate goal is to find a signature – a tell-tale sign for Takotsubo, so that doctors can diagnose people accurately and get them the most appropriate treatment. In 2010, Professor Dawson’s team set up the first Takotsubo follow-up clinic in the NHS to see what happens to people with this condition.
What are we doing to treat Takotsubo?
Years later, the researchers have established a Scottish Takotsubo Registry – a database of all the people who have had Takotsubo cardiomyopathy since 2010, with links to their GP and hospital health records.
Professor Dawson and her team are looking at this rich source of information to understand what other health conditions these people have, and what types of medicines they take before and after they are diagnosed with Takotsubo.
They will compare this information about people with Takotsubo with information about people from the Scottish general population, and people who have had a heart attack. This will reveal if there are clues that could explain why people with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy do not fully recover, shedding light on this important and potentially fatal condition.
“There is a lot more to find out,” Professor Dawson explains. “We will also try to determine if individuals who develop Takotsubo may be predisposed. It’s fascinating research – this is the strongest interaction (where mental state affects physical health) that we know of in medicine!”
Do you want to hear more from Professor Dana Dawson and Caron Curragh?