Broken Heart Syndrome

Twice in the past week I've heard references to Broken Heart Syndrome. First, it was a major plotline on Scrubs. JD was unable to diagnose a patient with heart failure, and Dr. Cox figured out she was suffering from BHS because her husband had recently passed away. He used his powers of observation and deductive reasoning because, he's smart.

Today, I heard a great episode of On Point today on NPR, all about being happy. They also talked about broken heart syndrome, and how people who don't have a strong social network, aren't in relationships, or don't have friends and family as support are more likely to get sick than those people who do have all that.

Results of as study on broken heard syndrome were recently released here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=56666&nfid=crss

Listen to the NPR episode here: http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/01/20070108_a_main.asp
One of my favorite parts of the show is when a caller says that he thinks the whole happiness study is a crock and that the only way someone can be happy is if they believe in God. And only Christians, of course. Not any other religion, like Buddhism. Wow. The host and guest were very professional - much more so than the nighttime hosts on WBZ.