The 54-year-old woman had a heart attack after learning of her father’s death.
“She was actually out searching for him,” said Jasper County Coroner Rob Chappel, describing how he came to add another fatality to his count of 161 storm-related deaths after the devastating 2011 tornado that hit Joplin, Mo.
For Dr. Sadip Pant, it’s a new bit of data to ponder.
“I would not be surprised if this is related to the stress, or broken heart syndrome,” said Pant, a resident and researcher at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Not only has he been studying broken heart syndrome, a heart disorder known to be related to extreme physical or emotional stress, but Pant said he’s also come to find a link between natural disasters like the Joplin tornado and higher incidence rates for the heart malady.
Symptoms include chest pain as well as shortness of breath, as the heart muscle becomes weakened or possibly enlarged. Treatment might include drugs used for other heart conditions, Pant said.
Vermont and Missouri in 2011 had the highest rates of the relatively rare heart disorder out of 26 states, according to data compiled in a national database, Pant said.
In research to be presented Saturday at the annual American College of Cardiology conference’s scientific session in Washington, D.C., Pant will describe why he believes there’s a link between disasters like the Joplin tornado and Tropical Storm Irene - which hit Vermont hard in 2011 - and the heart condition.
“Vermont reporting this many cases and Missouri reporting this many cases, we think there has to be a good reason behind this,” Pant said. He found 380 cases per million residentsin Vermont and 169 cases per million in Missouri, when most states - including Arkansas - had fewer than 150 cases per million residents.
“It’s very unlikely to be a coincidence,” Pant said, though he added that more research needs to be done to confirm the theory. Pant said he also would like to study additional years to see if there is a spike in a year a natural disaster hits, though data only goes back to 2006 for the specific broken heart syndrome diagnosis.
Told of the tornado-related death, Pant said that he’s found evidence that women are 10 times more likely to be diagnosed with the problem.
“Females that develop this disease usually are post-menopausal females in their late 40s and 50s,” Pant said.
The problem stems from a connection between the brain and the heart, he said, with a release of hormones similar to what are released in “fight or flight” responses, he said.
At least, “that’s the most widely accepted hypothesis for this disease as of now,” Pant said.
“It’s reversible, but the acute stage needs treatment and very close monitoring,” Pant said, with a less than 4 percent risk of cardiac death. Complications can include heart failure or stroke. Treatment will vary depending on the individual, he said. The problem can go away after four to six weeks.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 03/28/2014