Dying of a broken heart

By Cherry Ann T. Lim

POETS and songwriters have dedicated centuries of verse to the subject of love–the bliss at its fi nding, and the despair at its loss, causing not a few of their main characters to die of a broken heart.

But studies now suggest that dying of a broken heart may indeed have a basis in fact.

In November, Science Daily reported that researchers at the United Statesbased Mayo Clinic had found abnormal heart-blood fl ow in two-thirds of 100 patients with “broken heart syndrome,” so-named because one of its triggers is severe emotional stress, such as the loss of a loved one. Some 3.6 percent of the cases were fatal.
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Eat, drink, but be warry

By Jujemay G. Awit

HE is fit. He plays sports. He doesn’t smoke or drink. So why did Frank Malilong get chest pains and need angioplasty to open his blood vessels and improve the blood flow to his heart?

Malilong, a lawyer and columnist for Sun.Star Cebu, played tennis and badminton regularly even before that health scare last year, which was short of a heart attack. This is why he always felt invincible and ate lots of humba, a popular Filipino pork dish.
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When God deals a bad hand

By Rianne C. Tecson

Fate, infection conspire to give children a bad heart

WHEN a woman gets pregnant, there are two things she usually wishes for—a safe delivery and a healthy baby.

Most women get what they wish for. But others like Marie (not her real name), 13, from Molave town in Zamboanga del Sur are not as lucky. At 12, her neighbor raped her. On March 28, 2006, Marie gave birth to two baby girls—Rezzia and Rezzie, twins joined together at the chest and abdomen.
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