A 60-year-old Israeli woman’s takotsubo cardiomyopathy or “broken-heart syndrome” was found to be triggered by consuming a copious amount of wasabi. She had mistaken a bowl of the green paste for avocado dip and had “a large amount”.
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An article on BMJ Case Reports details that the woman felt “sudden pressure” on her chest which then extended to her arms. Although the pressure lasted for a few hours, the woman opted to stay at the wedding as the symptoms subsided. She did, however, go to the emergency room the following morning as there were lingering feelings of “weakness and general discomfort”.
The doctors diagnosed her with takotsubo cardiomyopathy which is a “left ventricular dysfunction that typically occurs after sudden intense emotional or physical stress and mimics myocardial infarction.” This means that the heart’s main pumping chamber is suddenly weakened and causes dysfunctional ballooning.
Broken heart syndrome is typically caused by severe emotional or physical stress. Some examples of this are receiving bad news, a drop in blood pressure, or severe pain. It also almost exclusively occurs in women.
The study notes that this may be the first recorded case that was triggered by wasabi. “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of takotsubo cardiomyopathy triggered by wasabi consumption,” it stated.
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