Texas Woman Suffers Actual Broken Heart After Death Of Beloved Dog

A Texas woman who was rushed to the hospital thought to be suffering from a heart attack was actually exhibiting symptoms of a condition commonly known as "broken heart syndrome." The case of 62-year-old Joanie Simpson was chronicled this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The 2016 case published in the journal notes that Simpson, then 61, went to the emergency room with acute onset of severe chest pain. "She reported multiple recent stressors, including the death of her dog," the article noted.

Doctors found that none of Simpson's arteries were blocked and diagnosed her with takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a condition that the article notes typically occurs in postmenopausal women and may be preceded by a stressful or emotional event. The symptoms associated with the condition are very similar to those in patients who may be suffering from a heart attack.

Watch: Texas Woman Suffers Actual Broken Heart After Death Of Beloved Dog

Simpson, a resident of Camp Wood, Texas, spoke to The Washington Post about the death of her dog, Meha, a Yorkshire terrier.

“I was close to inconsolable,” she told The Post. “I really took it really, really hard.”

Simpson, who is retired, said her kids were grown up and out of the house and 9-year-old Meha was "our little girl." It wasn't the only stressful event in her life at the time. She told the Post her son was facing back surgery, her son-in-law had lost his job and a property sale was turning out to be complicated.

SEE ALSO: Death of Debbie Reynolds: Can You Die from a Broken Heart?

The American Heart Association notes that "broken heart syndrome" can occur even in healthy people. The symptoms can mimic a heart attack, but there is no physical blockage in the organ's arteries.

The main symptoms associated with the condition are chest pain and shortness of breath. An explainer published by The Harvard School of Medicine says the precise cause of the condition isn't known but "experts think that surging stress hormones (for example, adrenaline) essentially "stun" the heart, triggering changes in heart muscle cells or coronary blood vessels (or both) that prevent the left ventricle from contracting effectively."

More than 90 percent of reported cases occur in 58-75-year-old women.

Image via Pixabay, not an actual photo of Simpson's dog Meha