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Consultant cardiologist Dr Tahira Redwood is raising red flags about a little-known but potentially life-threatening condition known as Broken Heart Syndrome, warning that emotional trauma and stress are silently attacking the nation's heart health.

Redwood says that grief, financial strain, and other intense emotional shocks are doing more damage to Jamaicans' hearts than many people realise.

According to Redwood, in a country that suffers loss every day, through murder, sickness, and accidents, such emotional shocks are far from rare. The condition mimics a heart attack, with symptoms like chest pain, breathlessness, and fatigue. But unlike a typical heart attack, it's not caused by blocked arteries. Instead, the heart muscle is temporarily weakened by a surge of stress hormones.

"Large amounts of stress, especially over a short period, can affect not just the heart, but the brain and immune system too," Redwood added. "A lot of people don't even know this exists."

She says emotional trauma and chronic stress may contribute far more to cardiovascular issues than the public realises.

"I've seen cases where extreme grief affects Jamaicans' heart health," Redwood told THE WEEKEND STAR. "But if you don't have access to an echocardiogram or angiogram, you won't be able to pick it up."

These diagnostic tools, an ultrasound of the heart and an imaging scan of blood vessels, respectively, are often only available at major hospitals or in private care. As a result, many cases go undetected.

Redwood said that the emotional strain of everyday life, bereavement, financial pressure, and the psychological toll of crime and instability, can all affect the heart, and warned that the country's cardiovascular crisis is no longer just about poor diet and blocked arteries.

Professor William Aiken, head of the Department of Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine at the University of the West Indies, Mona, said that while conditions like Broken Heart Syndrome may be lesser known, the broader problem is that Jamaicans are dying from heart-related causes at alarming rates, and the country is not prepared.

"Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death not just in Jamaica, but across the entire Caribbean," Aiken told THE WEEKEND STAR.