This one's for the ladies.....and the men who love them!

We all know we live in a stressful world, more so now for many in Michigan. i had a personal reminder last week of how damaging stress can be.

I am not a doctor. I am sharing a story. My 52 years young sister, she's ok now, had a heart attack. She is an otherwise healthy person with no indication of heart problems. The diagnoses? Tako-tsubo syndrome (TSS). tako-tsubo is the Japanes word for the octopus traps that fisherman use. In TSS the heart takes the shape of an octopus trap!

About 70-80% of cases of TSS occur in post menopausal women (men tend to drop dead!) under some form of extreme, exceptional, prolonged mental stress. Once the nervous system is so terribly activated, one risks myocardial stunning, chest pressure pains, coronary, heart failure.

Stress kills for real. Try to calm yourself, if necessary with outside help from firends and health practitioners. Better to prevent and recognize tako-tsubo than be victim of the syndrome. Perhaps one of our MCC health practitioners would care to comment or offer assistance.