…but most people recover. Broken Heart Syndrome is a genuine medical condition, usually brought on in healthy people by sudden and surprising events such as death of a loved one, or losing one’s true love to another. In Broken Heart Syndrome, there is no evidence of a heart attack or a blocked artery—and yet the patient’s heart doesn’t function properly, causing symptoms identical to those suffered during heart attacks. Scientists believe it is caused by a sudden rush of hormones. Doctors see about 30,000 cases of Broken Heart Syndrome every year in the United States. Thankfully, it rarely results in death.